Posted on by Staff Report

Kennedy grabs first career K&N Pro Series East win in home state of Florida

Ben Kennedy captured his first career win in dominant fashion — leading the NAPA Auto Parts 150 wire-to-wire as the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East made its inaugural visit to Five Flags Speedway on Saturday.

"It’s so cool to come here to Pensacola and win. This is a track with so much prestige."

—Ben Kennedy

Earlier in the day, Kennedy established himself as the one to beat at the half-mile track in his home state — topping the speed chart in practice and winning the Coors Light Pole Award in qualifying.

The 21-year-old from Daytona Beach held off multiple challenges throughout the 150-lap event and maintained command even after his sizeable lead was erased by a late-race caution.

"It’s so cool to come here to Pensacola and win," said Kennedy. "This is a track with so much prestige, and this is phenomenal."

Fifteen-year-old series rookie Gray Gaulding had to settle for second, with John Van Doorn third. Brett Moffitt came home fourth, followed by Kenzie Ruston. Bryon Ortiz, Dylan Kwasniewski, Sergio Pena, Ryan Gifford and Brandon Gdovic completed the top 10.

Kennedy, the great grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., got his first NASCAR win last year in the Euro-Racecar Series in Tours, France. This was his first win in the U.S. and came in his 30th NASCAR K&N Pro Series East start. His previous best finish was third (twice).

Kennedy was one of five drivers in the field with previous experience at the Pensacola track. He has twice competed in Super Late Models at Five Flags.

The NAPA Auto Parts 150 will be televised on SPEED on May 2 at 3 p.m. ET.

The next event on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East schedule is the Blue Ox 100 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway on April 25.

For more results, audio, photos and information, go to hometracks.nascar.com.

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Larson takes fastest speed earlier practice

Full practice results

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — Rookie Chase Elliott shot to the top of the speed charts in final NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice Saturday afternoon at Rockingham Speedway.

Elliott — driving the No. 94 Chevrolet owned by his father, NASCAR legend Bill Elliott — turned a lap at 142.813 mph around the mile-long oval ahead of Sunday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 (2 p.m. ET on SPEED). The 17-year-old driver finished sixth last weekend in his Truck Series debut at Martinsville Speedway.

Veteran David Starr was second-fastest at 141.282, more than a quarter of a second off Elliott’s time in Bobby Dotter’s Toyota. Series points leader Johnny Sauter, who will vie for his third straight win to open the season in Sunday’s 200-miler, was third-fastest at 140.961 in a ThorSport Racing Toyota.

Rookie Ryan Blaney, second-fastest in the opening session, was fourth-best in final practice. Matt Crafton, Sauter’s ThorSport teammate, completed the top five.

Kyle Larson, another rookie, led the first practice, but tailed off to ninth-fastest in the final 60-minute session. Coleman Pressley, subbing for Sprint Cup driver Joey Logano while he drives a Sprint Cup car at Texas Motor Speedway, was 18th-best on the practice chart.

The session was slowed once by a piece of debris with 15 minutes remaining.

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Rookie Kyle Larson proved to be a quick study on a track more that twice as old as he is, setting the fastest lap in opening practice for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Rockingham Speedway.

Larson, 20, registered a speed of 144.341 mph on his second lap around the 48-year-old track in a Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet. He was just ahead of 19-year-old Ryan Blaney, who was second-fastest at 144.127 mph in a Ford owned by reigning Sprint Cup champ Brad Keselowski.

Ty Dillon, driving for grandfather Richard Childress, was third-best at 142.540 mph. Timothy Peters and Ron Hornaday Jr. completed the top five.

Series points leader Johnny Sauter, bidding for a third straight victory to open the season in Sunday’s 200-mile race, was ninth-fastest of the 36 trucks to record a lap in the opening 90-minute session.

Coleman Pressley drove in relief of Joey Logano, who is scheduled to participate in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series action Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway. Pressley, who will help set up the truck for Logano, set the 12th-fastest time.

Opening practice was slowed once for debris 15 minutes into the session.

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Posted on by Zack Albert

No. 98 driver doesn’t believe superstitions hampered his 2012 season

Read more: Lineup | Burton wins pole

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — There’s no apparent triskaidekaphobia — fear of the number 13 — as the reason why Johnny Sauter’s truck number changed before the start of the season. Whether it’s luck, omens or mere coincidence, good things have followed Sauter since he shed the No. 13.

Sauter will bid for a third straight victory to start the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season in Sunday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Rockingham Speedway. As with his wins at Daytona and Martinsville, he’ll continue the numeric change of pace by carrying the No. 98 for ThorSport Racing.

Sauter enjoyed plenty of success in ThorSport’s No. 13, winning at least one race in each of the four years he campaigned the unlucky number for team owner Mike Curb. The team also tempted fate in recent seasons with sponsorships from peanut brands; the snack has long been viewed as a source of sour luck in stock-car racing circles.

"I believe in giving 100 percent, and whatever happens, happens."

— Johnny Sauter

"I’m not superstitious at all," said Sauter, who leads rookie Jeb Burton by 12 points in the Truck standings. "I believe in giving 100 percent, and whatever happens, happens. But that seems to be the hot topic, people pointing to the number change. Then a lot of people said I had the double whammy — I had peanuts on the truck and I was 13. So whatever.

"The number’s cool. I actually like the look of the truck and the number 98, so to me, it’s a win-win. I can’t honestly give any feedback on that. If there is luck or superstition, then I’m way off base. Whatever it is, it’s working so I just want to leave it alone."

No driver has ever started the season with a three-race win streak since the Truck series began in 1995, something Sauter hopes to achieve at Rockingham. Even with the modest string of victories, it’s difficult to say if momentum is on his side. Shortly after his victory in the season opener at Daytona, the truck tour took a five-week layoff.

The break may not have allowed Sauter to build up a head of steam, but he quickly regained stride at Martinsville.

"I think some people think that momentum exists and some people maybe don’t completely believe in that," Sauter said. "I think you give 100 percent no matter what and at the end of the day, you get what you get — not just the driver, the whole team, everybody. Momentum is cool and I think it sounds cool, but I’ve been racing in the Truck series long enough to know there’s a big break after Daytona and the first year or two that I ran the trucks, it was kind of hard to get used to. Now I’ve kind of gotten accustomed to it, and it’s actually kind of nice, especially when you have a good run at Daytona."

Based on his efforts last season, Sauter has a fighting chance at Rockingham this weekend. In 2012 on the historic mile track, he led 40 of 200 laps before finishing fourth behind race winner Kasey Kahne.

Besides his past performance, Sauter has savored the history, the variety of racing grooves and the premium on tire management that The Rock offers.

"You’ve also got options. You can run the bottom, run the middle, run the top … you don’t have a lot of race tracks like that," Sauter said. "This place here, you feel like Superman on sticker tires and 10 laps into the run, you’re slipping and sliding. I think this is great. I couldn’t be happier. It’s like driving back in time coming back this morning."

If Sauter can realize his goal of a 3-for-3 start, then the number change success theory may gain more traction … unless ThorSport teammate Matt Crafton follows through on a playful pre-race threat.

"He’s gonna have a 13 on his truck if he keeps this streak alive," Crafton said. "It’s going to be under his seat, under the truck somewhere. I’m going to put it on there and he’s not going to know about it. The 13 will be planted on Johnny somewhere."

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Maurice Petty the latest member of NASCAR’s royal family to be up for the Hall of Fame

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FORT WORTH, Texas — The King is going to bat for the Chief.

Seven-time premier-series champion Richard Petty is a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and he believes his brother should join him. Maurice Petty, who built the engines that powered Petty Enterprises to most of its record 268 victories, was among five new nominees chosen for the shrine’s 2014 class, which will be selected in May.

Maurice Petty joined driving champions Dale Jarrett and Rex White, weekly series legend Larry Phillips, and promoter Bruton Smith as newcomers on the 25-person list from which the five 2014 enshinees will be chosen. As far as the King is concerned, his brother — known in the family as “Chief” — was as integral to the success of Petty Enterprises as himself, father and team patriarch Lee Petty, or longtime crew chief Dale Inman.

Richard Petty was part of the Hall’s inaugural class in 2010. Lee Petty was inducted a year later, and Inman in 2012. As far as Richard and Inman are concerned, Maurice belongs right there beside the rest of them.

"Each one of us had a position, and his position was to make the car go. And he did a pretty good job with it."

— Richard Petty on brother Maurice

“When you look at Daddy and me and Dale, without a motor we wouldn’t have been nowhere,” Richard said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. “And (Maurice) was the motor. Dale was the chassis, Daddy owned the car, I drove it. Each one of us had a position, and his position was to make the car go. And he did a pretty good job with it.”

And he did it at a time when engine construction wasn’t nearly as sophisticated as it is now. There were no grinding machines, no dynamometers until the late 1960s. Maurice built each engine by hand, a painstaking process that began with only a raw engine head.

“When he came along and started doing the engine stuff, there was no such things as CNC machines. We didn’t have a dyno,” Richard said. “And he built one engine at a time, individually, did all the grinding … all that kind of stuff. You put it together, you didn’t know if it had horsepower or not. You thought it did. And undoubtedly, they must have.”

Inman said Maurice Petty was instrumental in developing the Hemi engine in 1964. He also changed tires on the car, but motors were his specialty. “If we thought we needed extra RPMs, he’d dig into his motors making them,” the eight-time champion crew chief said. “I can say that for him.”

Richard, Maurice and Inman basically grew up together, and “were like one person with three heads,” the King said. Maurice even drove for a time, starting 26 races at the premier level, with a best finish of third at Spartanburg (S.C.) Interstate Fairgrounds in 1961. But while his older brother became the face of the sport, Maurice maintained a low profile. He didn’t receive much publicity, perhaps because he didn’t actively seek it.

“That was not his job, and he was not looking for that,” Richard said. “It was one of those deals where people accomplish something for their own satisfaction. … A bunch of reporters come up, he’d take off. He’d say, ‘That’s your job. You do it.’”

Stricken with polio as a child, Maurice overcame the disease to play high school football and become one of the top engine builders of all time. His business, Maurice Petty and Associates, operated from the Petty Enterprises shop and built engines as late as the 1990s for Petty entries on the Camping World Truck Series. As he aged, polio once again began to affect him, and today he is retired and gets around with the use of a scooter.

But in the eyes of men who raced alongside him, time doesn’t dampen Maurice’s contributions to building the best NASCAR organization of all time. Three key members of that team have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. As far as they’re concerned, there’s still one left.

“Richard got in, Lee got in, I’m very fortunate that I got in, and I’m very humbled by it,” Inman said. “And then to get the fourth member in out of the same era would be another big feat.”

Inman isn’t a voter on the Hall of Fame election panel. But Richard is — and at least one of the names that will appear on his ballot in May is fairly obvious.

“I guess I’m prejudiced, but if it hadn’t been for him, us three might not have made it. Or we would have made it at a different level,” Richard said. “It was a four-person team, and he was as big part of it.”


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Five months ago, the two drivers were fighting for the Sprint Cup championship

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FORT WORTH, Texas — Their haulers may be parked alongside one another in the garage area at Texas Motor Speedway, but away from the race track, Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski live very different lives. The former is a family man who recently announced that he and his wife are expecting a second child. The latter is a young, first-time champion who recently bought a van he plans to get painted like the one in the television show “The A-Team.”

“It will be a replica van,” Keselowski, the reigning champion of the Sprint Cup Series, explained. “I am going to paint it ‘A-Team’ colors and put the spoiler on it, and I will use it to drive to races at Martinsville and Bristol, someplace short. Charlotte, Darlington. It isn’t built yet, so I won’t have it ’til the late fall, but I think that will be really neat. I like stuff that is kind of quirky.”

This is the same guy, after all, who on Wednesday met the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders (“I was a good boy,” he promised) and is still looking to buy a tank. (“Until it’s done, I don’t want to say anything,” he added on that front.) And yet, the current and five-time champion are linked at Texas by more than just transporter proximity, given that it was here five months ago where their battle for the 2012 title crystalized into a head-to-head matchup that left race cars wiggling and spectators on the edge of their seats.

What we know today is Jimmie vs. Brad really took root here in Texas, with a slam-bang finish to the track’s fall race. Johnson won it, taking advantage of a late restart and weathering wheel-to-wheel contact to pull away from Keselowski at the end. That event established a rivalry which has transcended last season, and finds Johnson and Keselowski once again first and second in points as the series returns to Fort Worth.

Johnson’s victory here last fall gave him a seven-point lead entering the season’s final two races, but a blown tire the next week at Phoenix opened the door enough for Keselowski to barge through and secure his first crown. Over the early stages of this year, Keselowski and Johnson have often found themselves dicing it up again, particularly in a Daytona 500 where a wounded No. 2 car was the final obstacle the victorious No. 48 team had to overcome. Coming out of Martinsville, Johnson and Keselowski found themselves again 1-2 in the standings, with six points between them, almost exactly how they left here last fall.

"I knew that we were strong and I think as a team we carry a lot of confidence coming here."

— Brad Keseowski on returning to Texas

Over the past several races dating back to last season, it sometimes seemed like the two drivers are racing each other as much as they are everybody else.

“It feels that way sometimes doesn’t it?” Keselowski conceded. “Yeah, believe me, I know where he is at, and he knows where I am at. … You can never just focus on one guy solely, but that doesn’t mean you can’t lend a stronger eye to one guy over the others.”

Johnson, who assumed the points lead after winning last week at Martinsville, isn’t ready to proclaim this season a head-to-head face-off with Keselowski, not with so many other drivers vying to keep him from a sixth title. But he looks at the relationship between Keselowski and crew chief Paul Wolfe, and he sees a lot of similarities between himself and crew chief Chad Knaus. And in the No. 2 team, he sees an operation that isn’t fading anytime soon.

“It’s not really fair to say it’s just a 2 and 48 thing,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if it does — I expect a lot out of that 2 car. They proved it last year. They’re only getting smarter, and the more time they spend together, the more experience they have. They’re only getting stronger. It’s evident that the relationship that Paul and Brad have is something like Chad and I have had, and Ray Evernham and Jeff Gordon had. You can go down through the list of the great pairings of drivers and crew chiefs. I absolutely expect him to be there in it. But the garage area is full of a lot of competitive drivers and crew chiefs. It wouldn’t necessarily be fair to say it’s a 48-2 thing, but it wouldn’t necessarily surprise me if that’s what it came down to.”

Returning to Texas refreshes memories of last year’s finish, as memorable as any in the 2012 campaign. With eight laps remaining, Johnson and Keselowski clanged off one another, but both drivers kept their cars pointed straight. An accident involving Mark Martin set up a final restart with two to go and the contenders on the front row. More contact ensued, but Johnson managed to edge ahead of Keselowski and hold on for the victory.

“It was awesome,” Johnson remembered. “I enjoyed it in the car. I thought I was going to get turned around in (turns) 1 and 2 on one of the restarts we had, but we didn’t. We raced right to that ragged edge and pulled it off. Of course I had a good perspective of it after the race. When I watched the video, I smiled. That was good, hard racing.”

Keselowski watched the replay as recently as Wednesday. What did he think?

“I wish there weren’t so many damn yellows. That’s what I think,” he said. And yet, that runner-up result last fall was by far Keselowski’s best finish in Texas, and he’s optimistic that success will carry over even though he’s driving a redesigned car made by a different manufacturer.

“I knew that we were strong,” he said, “and I think as a team we carry a lot of confidence coming here.”

Certainly, Johnson feels the same way. And if another Texas race produces another showdown between last year’s top title contenders, he’s confident they’ll again be able to race one another with equal degrees of tenacity and respect. Despite all they had at stake last year, despite the likelihood of both drivers being in the championship cauldron again this season, Keselowski and Johnson have maintained the best kind of rivalry — one where they try to beat the heck out of each other, and then shake hands afterward.

“I have this relationship with a lot of guys where, we’re going to race hard. I think Brad and I, what we showed here in the fall showed that,” Johnson said. “We’re going to race hard and get right to that line. But there’s nothing malicious involved in it. Absolutely, I want to crush him. I want to lap him every race. And I know he wants to do the same to me, and I feel that way about others. But I’ll get out, I’ll have a beer with him, I’ll get out and shake his hand and congratulate him on a win. But in the heat of that moment, I want to crush him. I mean, I don’t want bad things to happen to him. But absolutely, I have that competitive spirit and I want to crush him.”

There’s no better place for another shootout than Texas, where the Brad vs. Jimmie rivalry reached its crescendo five months ago. And the way they were able to race one another here last fall — hard, but within limits — only makes Johnson and Keselowski more comfortable with the idea of mixing it up again.

“For sure,” Johnson said. “I have that great relationship with quite a few guys. There are others you get around, maybe they don’t have that much experience racing for a win, so you’re not sure how they’re going to handle it. Or maybe they’re in a position where they’re very hungry and aggressive, and you have to weigh those things out. But I put Brad in that category racing Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, and guys I really trust and don’t even think about it. Just racing for the win.”

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Vickers, Harvick, Patrick fought to the start/finish line — and beyond

Starting lineup | Viewer’s Guide | Video: Up to Speed

FORT WORTH, Texas — Hard racing on a short track left some drivers still trying to sort out hard feelings as NASCAR’s top series moved to Texas Motor Speedway.

Contact last weekend at Martinsville Speedway involving Danica Patrick, Kevin Harvick and Brian Vickers resulted in a few frayed nerves and one driver spinning another after the checkered flag. Earlier, Vickers had been in a group battling for position that resulted in Patrick spinning Dale Earnhardt Jr. Harvick later punted the No. 55 car at the finish after he, Patrick and Vickers leaned on one another going for 11th place off the final corner.

Friday in Fort Worth, it was clear that emotions had cooled, although drivers were still trying to sort things out. Vickers — this week beginning his stint as fill-in for the injured Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 car — said he called Harvick and didn’t get an answer, although the two had texted a few times.

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“We were on a different page to start with, and I think we ended closer to the same page,” Vickers said. “Maybe not quite where we need to be. I’d like to spend a few minutes with him. He was somehow under the impression that I put him three-wide on a restart, but the reality is, I started on the inside and he started on the outside, and passed me and put himself three-wide. I didn’t have anything to do with that. He took his frustrations out on us. It’s unfortunate. It didn’t cost us anything in the race, but it tore our car up. I hate it for the team. This stuff is unnecessary. But I guess it’s Martinsville racing, right?”

Friday, Harvick had larger concerns — his engine expired in final practice, which will force him to start Saturday night’s event from the rear. Harvick has spoken with Patrick, who finished a surprising 12th in her first Martinsville event. Patrick, Vickers and Harvick crossed the finish line three-wide, with the No. 10 car on top and Vickers in the middle. Right after the trio took the checkered flag, Harvick sent Vickers spinning.

“I said thanks, because it looked like he was giving me a hand there with someone that was a little upset,” Patrick said of her conversation with Harvick. “He was a little upset with (Vickers), too. I think there were a lot of people upset with Vickers after Martinsville. I don’t know. I haven’t raced with him very much, so I’m getting on with my day. You saw what happened, and like I was told by a couple of people, I just got hit, and I did. At least I only lost one spot.”

To Vickers, it was just hard racing on a short track. He said all is OK between him and Earnhardt, who was battling a loose track bar and just holding on late in the race. But Vickers was running close behind Patrick when the earlier contact with the No. 88 car occurred, and initially took some grief from television analysts for sparking the event. Friday, he relayed his side of the situation to reporters in Texas.

“We all understand, it’s just racing at Martinsville,” Vickers said. “We all went in there and everybody kind of slammed on brakes, and (Patrick) got a little loose and the 43 (car of Aric Almirola) got me, and I got her. … I just wanted to kind of clarify that. … I spoke to Junior this week, and he was fine. He understood it’s Martinsville racing. I think he had a broken track bar, and they were just hanging on for dear life. But none of it obviously was intentional. I want to go out there and do the best I can and win. I’ve got to race hard, but we want to earn respect the right way.”

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Crew chief Owens has made the rounds, but still values the learning experiences

FORT WORTH, Texas — For Kyle Larson, everything is new. From tracks to procedures to accomplishments, so much seems untrodden for a driver journeying through a full NASCAR Nationwide Series campaign for the first time. And the same might be said for his crew chief, even if he’s seen and done it all before.

Trent Owens has been a fixture in the NASCAR garages for nearly a decade now, ever since his hopes of making it behind the wheel gave way to an engineering degree and a role atop the pit box. Over that time, the nephew to Richard Petty has worked with a staggering number of drivers — “I lost count,” he says when asked how many — and through that experience developed an open mind and a knack for adaptation.

But even a crew chief who’s worked with 32 different drivers at the national level can discover a new experience, and he’s in the middle of one right now. Owens has won five races at the Nationwide level, worked with the likes of Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne. But now with Larson, the 20-year-old wunderkind who’s fast in everything he drives, the veteran crew chief is competing for a championship for the first time.

"I see the different driving styles, I see the different trends of how they race. …I just go at it with an open mind. I think that helps."

— Trent Owens

“This is really the first year I’ve had one driver that’s going to be with me the entire season,” Owens said inside the No. 32 team hauler at Texas Motor Speedway. “I’ve never run for a championship myself, so that’s going to be fun.”

It already has been, with Larson seventh in points and coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes. First with Braun Racing and then with Turner Scott Motorsports, Owens was a crew chief who juggled multiple drivers, adjusting to new attitudes and styles almost on a week-to-week basis. He worked with nine different drivers last year alone, winning with James Buescher at Daytona and Nelson Piquet Jr. at Road America. The closest he ever came to working a full season with one driver was in 2010, when he did 27 races with Reed Sorenson — and five more with two other guys.

A crew chief learns a lot by keeping that many balls in the air. How to avoid complacency. How to keep an open mind. How to work with all different kinds of personalities — or accents, in the cases of Miguel Paludo, Jacques Villeneuve and Alex Tagliani. Those experiences are paying off now that Owens has one single driver in his charge and can funnel all his focus and understanding toward one voice over the radio.

“I think it does make it easier,” he said. “When you have one driver for a long period of time, and that’s all you’ve ever had, you can probably become real complacent with a lot of things. Myself, having 20-something drivers, I see the different personalities, I see the different driving styles, I see the different trends of how they race. … I just go at it with an open mind. I think that helps.”

Owens isn’t sure if the pairing was intentional — co-owners Steve Turner and Harry Scott Jr. set up the program — but it certainly feels that way, given the juxtaposition of the crew chief’s wealth of experience at NASCAR’s national level, and the driver’s lack of it. No doubt, Larson can wheel it, but he also needs to grow familiar with event procedures, pit stops and the other small details that can lose a race. He needs someone to make use of the concise but accurate feedback he gives about the race car. And on the pit box, he has someone who once was a little bit like himself.

Not necessarily as a driver — “guys like Larson made me quit,” said Owens, who made 12 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts with a best finish of 14th — but as a rookie who could benefit from someone else’s experience. Owens was once a rookie crew chief, and he worked with drivers like Busch, Hamlin and Dave Blaney who helped accelerate his learning curve. With those guys, there was no guessing. They might not have been full-time in his vehicles, but their job was to jump behind the wheel and go.

“The biggest thing they bring over is, there’s no learning time with them,” Owens said. “They’re in the race car, and we’re dialing in the race car. There’s no learning the track, there’s no wait period. So from a rookie crew chief’s perspective, that’s good. We didn’t have both of us trying to learn. They were pretty much guiding me in what directions we needed to work toward. So I think that sped things up for me a lot.”

Now that situation has reversed itself, and it’s a crew chief helping to bring along a rookie driver adjusting to races that are longer and more involved than anything Larson experienced in the sprint car ranks. Of course, when it comes to what happens behind the wheel, Owens turns it over to his driver — who relies on more than just abundant natural talent to get the job done.

“He does have an exceptional gift for driving the race vehicle,” Owens said. “… And he excels at that. Behind the scenes, I think he studies well. He does his part as a driver and researches and looks at these tracks, and does his simulation on the iRacing or whatever these kids do now. But I think he does a very, very good job of that, and I think that’s sometimes overlooked, the work he puts in personally to show up and do good. I think he’s just really focused. This is all he wants to do is race. He has a very strong passion for being the best and winning. That’s something you’re born with. That’s not something you’re taught.”

It’s in Owens’ blood, too. His father Randy, also Petty’s brother-in-law, was killed in a pit road accident at Talladega when Trent was only four months old. The Petty family, he said, essentially took in him and his brother after that. As a teenager, he was working summers in the family business, Petty Enterprises, and living in the big house in Level Cross, N.C. Being in that environment, it was impossible to not want to race.

“At 13, they provided me with a summer job at Petty Enterprises. We went through every department in the building, checking out what I might and might not like,” said Owens, who doesn’t advertise his connection to the King. “That education, you can’t even buy. I don’t play that up, because they’re just people. They’re just family. But there’s no doubt, they’re the reason I’m doing what I’m doing. That passion was built in me early.”

And it continues this weekend — not just at Texas but at Rockingham Speedway, where Owens will also crew chief a Turner Scott entry for Larson in Sunday’s Truck Series event. The vehicle will feature an Autism Speaks paint scheme, and have the name of Owens’ 5-year-old son Gray — who suffers from the condition — over the right-side window opening. It will be another first for a crew chief who has seen it all before.

“That’s a real special deal,” Owens said. “I don’t even know how to thank them. … Just getting that awareness out there, and my team owners being willing to help in that, it’s pretty cool that they did that. It’s pretty rare to be a part of something like that. And then to be able to crew chief the vehicle — I don’t even know what to say.”


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Busch’s dominance leads to third consecutive Nationwide victory

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FORT WORTH, Tex. — Kyle Busch continued to celebrate his return to Joe Gibbs Racing’s NASCAR Nationwide Series program on Saturday night, winning the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. 

Winless in his own Nationwide equipment last year, Busch visited Victory Lane for the fourth time in six races this season, becoming the first driver in series history to win four of the first six.

The victory was Busch’s record sixth at Texas and his record 55th in the Nationwide Series. Brad Keselowski ran second, 2.272 seconds behind the winner. Austin Dillon was third, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick. 

Contact between Sam Hornish Jr. and Jeremy Clements on Lap 141 changed the complexion of the race and eliminated Hornish, who entered the event as the series leader. From that point on, Busch had the dominant car.

Hornish finished 34th and kept the points lead but saw his advantage over Regan Smith trimmed from 28 points to two.

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"It was a tough race," said Busch, who capped a banner day on which he already had won the pole for Saturday night’s Sprint Cup event. "It was a good race, but we had to work hard to have a better race car throughout the race. Brad there was strong, and so was Sam, and it just sort of played into our favor there with some of the pit stops and pit strategy

"At one time, I thought I was fading way too fast, and I was like, ‘Hey, these tires are terrible,’ but we had to save ’em. We had to wait in order to put on our fresh tires there in the middle of the race. The car was awesome today."

Keselowski had a straightforward assessment of Busch’s dominance at Texas.

"If you put an elite driver in an elite car, you should get elite results," Keselowski said. 

In a scenario that augured well for Saturday night’s Sprint Cup tires, new tires made an enormous difference on Friday. In caution for debris on Lap 66, Keselowski, Hornish and Busch were among those who opted for fuel only, and those three drivers restarted at the front of the field on Lap 70.

Their stay at the point was short-lived. On Lap 73, Kasey Kahne, on new tires, passed Hornish for the lead. One lap later, Brian Vickers, also on fresh rubber, blew past Hornish into the second position. By Lap 90, Hornish had slipped to ninth, more than eight seconds behind Kahne.

The tradeoff was that Hornish, Keselowski and Busch each had saved an extra set of tires and they took advantage of the new rubber during pit stops under caution for debris on Lap 95. Kahne also changed four tires under the caution, leaving him with one set for the last half of the race.

After the restart on Lap 99, the roles were reserved. Hornish, on new tires, took the green in 16th and stormed through the field, wresting the lead from Matt Kenseth, who had stayed out under the caution, on Lap 107. Having lost several spots with a slow pit stop, Kahne overtook Hornish for the top spot on Lap 111, with Busch and Keselowski in hot pursuit of the two frontrunners. 

Busch dispatched both Hornish and Kahne to assume the lead on Lap 115 before caution flew on Lap 120 for Robert Richardson‘s second spin of the race. That shuffled the field again for a restart on Lap 128, with Keselowski quickly taking the lead, followed by Busch and Austin Dillon.

After Hornish’s demise, by the time the lead-lap cars came to pit road under yellow on Lap 168, all contenders were back on equal footing, taking four tires for the run to the finish.

Note: There were 22 lead changes among 11 drivers, both Nationwide Series track records, breaking the marks of 17 and 10 from the spring race of 2005.

NASCAR Nationwide Series Race – O’Reilly Auto Parts 300

Texas Motor Speedway

Fort Worth, Texas

               1. (2) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 200, $70225.

               2. (5) Brad Keselowski(i), Ford, 200, $53225.

               3. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 200, $51325.

               4. (11) Dale Earnhardt Jr.(I), Chevrolet, 200, $35125.

               5. (7) Kevin Harvick(i), Chevrolet, 200, $29225.

               6. (9) Matt Kenseth(i), Toyota, 200, $25300.

               7. (6) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 200, $29250.

               8. (16) Kasey Kahne(i), Chevrolet, 200, $21875.

               9. (13) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 200, $27585.

               10. (14) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 200, $28200.

               11. (20) Brian Scott, Chevrolet, 200, $26725.

               12. (8) Parker Kligerman, Toyota, 200, $26475.

               13. (10) Elliott Sadler, Toyota, 200, $27225.

               14. (1) Alex Bowman #, Toyota, 200, $30265.

               15. (25) Reed Sorenson, Ford, 200, $26130.

               16. (17) Kevin Swindell #, Ford, 200, $25745.

               17. (23) Chris Buescher, Ford, 200, $25235.

               18. (19) Nelson Piquet Jr. #, Chevrolet, 200, $24650.

               19. (27) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 200, $24515.

               20. (18) Mike Bliss, Toyota, 199, $25080.

               21. (28) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 199, $24295.

               22. (36) Jeffrey Earnhardt #, Ford, 199, $24185.

               23. (30) Dexter Stacey #, Ford, 199, $24000.

               24. (35) Blake Koch, Toyota, 199, $23890.

               25. (31) Jamie Dick, Chevrolet, 199, $24230.

               26. (15) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 198, $23645.

               27. (24) Johanna Long, Chevrolet, 197, $23535.

               28. (34) Kevin Lepage, Chevrolet, 195, $23415.

               29. (39) Juan Carlos Blum #, Ford, 194, $23240.

               30. (37) Eric McClure, Toyota, 194, $23430.

               31. (38) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, 190, $23000.

               32. (12) Kyle Larson #, Chevrolet, 190, $22890.

               33. (21) Travis Pastrana, Ford, 186, $22775.

               34. (4) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 159, $22664.

               35. (22) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Accident, 142, $22547.

               36. (26) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 120, $21195.

               37. (33) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, Electrical, 96, $15075.

               38. (32) Hal Martin #, Toyota, Transmission, 53, $15040.

               39. (40) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Electrical, 10, $14790.

               40. (29) Jeff Green, Toyota, Vibration, 3, $14755.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  123.853 mph.

Time of Race:  2 Hrs, 25 Mins, 20 Secs. Margin of Victory:  2.272 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  8 for 42 laps.

Lead Changes:  22 among 11 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   A. Bowman # 1-4; S. Hornish Jr. 5-22; B. Keselowski(i) 23-26; L. Cassill(i) 27; K. Busch(i) 28-53; B. Keselowski(i) 54-65; J. Clements 66; M. Wallace 67; B. Keselowski(i) 68-69; S. Hornish Jr. 70-72; K. Kahne(i) 73-94; M. Kenseth(i) 95-106; S. Hornish Jr. 107-110; K. Kahne(i) 111-114; K. Busch(i) 115-122; B. Koch 123; S. Hornish Jr. 124-127; B. Keselowski(i) 128-141; K. Busch(i) 142-148; B. Keselowski(i) 149; K. Busch(i) 150-168; J. Earnhardt # 169; K. Busch(i) 170-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  K. Busch(i) 5 times for 91 laps; B. Keselowski(i) 5 times for 33 laps; S. Hornish Jr. 4 times for 29 laps; K. Kahne(i) 2 times for 26 laps; M. Kenseth(i) 1 time for 12 laps; A. Bowman # 1 time for 4 laps; M. Wallace 1 time for 1 lap; B. Koch 1 time for 1 lap; L. Cassill(i) 1 time for 1 lap; J. Clements 1 time for 1 lap; J. Earnhardt # 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 10 in Points: S. Hornish Jr. – 221; R. Smith – 219; A. Dillon – 213; J. Allgaier – 212; B. Scott – 212; P. Kligerman – 186; E. Sadler – 185; A. Bowman # – 183; B. Vickers – 182; T. Bayne – 181.


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Kyle Busch will start on front row alongside brother Kurt after edging him late

Read more: Lineup for Saturday’s race

FORT WORTH, Tex. — There was no beating the Busches Friday at Texas Motor Speedway.
The 42nd of 45 drivers to make a qualifying run in time trials for Saturday night’s NRA 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, Kyle Busch took advantage of the late draw and stole the pole from bother Kurt Busch by .086 seconds.

Kyle toured the 1.5-mile intermediate speedway in a track-record 27.509 seconds (196.299 mph) in winning his second Coors Light pole award of the season, his first at Texas and the 12th of his career.

Kurt, the 37th driver to make a qualifying attempt, ran 195.688 mph in securing the starting spot beside his brother on the outside of the front row.

 

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We used the whole toolbox today,” said Kyle, whose team had improved his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota throughout two practice sessions on Friday. “I can’t say enough about everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing, all the guys and gals at the shop that work so hard and give us some great equipment to come to the race track with.

“I appreciate that (crew chief) Dave (Rogers) and these guys dug in hard and worked hard to give us a good piece for qualifying, and I feel like we’ve got a good piece for the race (Saturday) night, too.”

Aric Almirola (195.009 mph) qualified third, followed by his Richard Petty Motorsports teammate, Marcos Ambrose (194.946 mph). Martin Truex Jr. (194.770 mph) nailed down the fifth starting spot for the seventh Cup race of the season.

It was a bittersweet performance for Kurt Busch, who was elated by the improvement of his No. 78 Furniture Row team but disappointed at not winning the pole.

“Because it was Kyle, I wouldn’t want to lose it anybody but him, but I’m bitter because I did lose it to him,” said Kurt, who was consistently fast in both Thursday test sessions and both Friday practices.

Series leader Jimmie Johnson, the only two-time Cup winner so far this season, will start seventh after a lap at 194.503 mph. Brad Keselowski, the defending series champion and second in the standings, qualified 16th. Dale Earnhardt Jr., third in points, will take the green flag from the sixth spot.

Danica Patrick will start 42nd. Scott Speed and Scott Riggs failed to make the 43-car field.

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Montoya, son share special connection on the racetrack

On a recent visit to the race track, Juan Pablo Montoya was more nervous than he’d ever been before — and Montoya wasn’t even driving.

No, Montoya was experiencing the delicious agony of watching his son Sebastian compete in a go-kart race.

"One part of it is really, really cool to see, but it’s stressful," Montoya told the NASCAR Wire Service during a conversation at Martinsville Speedway. "I used to laugh about my mom getting nervous about me racing — now you get it."

"I’m not pushing him at all. I want to make sure it’s a hobby for him."

— Juan Pablo Montoya, on 8-year-old son Sebastian

Sebastian, who turns 8 this week, began racing late last summer and has been competing in about one event per month. Montoya, whose father Pablo encouraged his first forays into karting, has been careful not to push his son into racing.

"He always liked it," the Colombian driver said before NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at the Virginia short track. "We gave him (a go-kart) years ago, but we had it very limited, just for him to do some laps — they call them ‘baby karts.’ For his birthday last year, we gave him the go-kart, and it’s hard, the transition. He was doing probably 20 miles an hour, and now he does 60-something."

Montoya already can see potential in Sebastian’s driving.

"The progression has been incredible. I’m not pushing him at all. I want to make sure it’s a hobby for him. For me it was that way. I think, since Tiger Woods came out, every parent thinks they’ve got to go and do it every day. You don’t have to do that.

"Because the day they turn 13 or 14, they look at a girl… if you’re forcing them (in any sport), they don’t want to do it again. It’s got to be something fun for him. If he wants to go, we go. If he doesn’t, we don’t. Everything’s about go-karting for him right now, because it’s fun."

Even before his birthday, Sebastian has been racing in the 8-10-year-old classification against drivers who have been competing for two or three years, Montoya says.

"The first few times you get really nervous about him, and then you get more worried about him doing well," Montoya said. "You want to have really good equipment for him, but at the same time, you want him to learn. The better equipment you give him, the less he’s going to push himself.

"The problem is that, when you go to the nationals, the good kids have the best equipment as well. When we started, in the first race (in Florida’s winter series), he was last and miles off the pace in local races. Three weeks ago, he finished second.

"In local races, he’s doing really well, and in national races, he’s getting a lot better, but he still has a way to go, I think."

Montoya, who is based in Miami during the racing season, helps make sure Sebastian learns during occasional visits to the go-kart track at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"I push him a little when we practice together to learn to pass, and when he puts himself in a bad situation, I’ll make him pay," Montoya said. "I run my go-kart, and he runs his, and I’ll drive him off the race track.

"If he’s right behind me before braking, he’s got to go. If I’m behind him, and he lifts a little early, I’ll dive-bomb him as well. If he tries to pass me on the outside, I’ll drive him off the race track — I do, I do. I’m not going to put him into the tire barriers or anything, but there’s curbs at the exits, and I’ll make sure he runs over the curb to the other side, so he learns that, if you go there, it’s not going to work.

"But he loves it. We laugh about it, and it makes for a fun day."

Because of his schedule in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing, Montoya hasn’t seen Sebastian compete since January. In fact, Montoya’s wife Connie has taken on extra duty, driving Sebastian to his events in Florida. From a social standpoint, both parents have seen an enormous change in their son.

"He’s a very shy kid, but at the race track, he’s a different kid," Montoya said. "He’s learned to socialize, play around with all the kids, have a good time. It changed him as a person completely."

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