D4D driver the first female to win LM at LaCrosse

WEST SALEM, Wisc. – Emily Sue Steck picked up her first career win Saturday night and became the first female to win in LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway’s Kwik Trip Late Model Division.

The 23-year-old Drive for Diversity participant led every lap of the caution-free feature held off pole sitter Cole Howland to win the Coca-Cola 25.

“When it got down to a couple laps to go, I just reminded myself not to look back in the mirror,” said Steck in Victory Lane, “and that certainly helped. I did better when I didn’t worry about the car behind me. Thanks for everyone for their support and encouragement!”

Steck, in her third year in the Late Model division, also overcame a cast around a healing broken thumb – an injury suffered earlier this season.

Steck started the feature second but got a run off Turn 4 of the first lap to wrestle the lead away from Howland, who wound up second. Jeff Baker finished third, followed by former NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion Steve Carlson in fourth and track points leader Kevin Nuttleman in fifth.

It is the 29th win for a Drive for Diversity participant. The Drive for Diversity initiative, managed by The 909 Group, develops minority and female drivers in the NASCAR Camping World Series and NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.

Inspection complete at Michigan

Inspection is complete at Michigan for the LifeLock 400 and no issues were found, according to a tweet from @DustinLong.

Our View: The cars of Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Bill Elliott will all go to the R&D center for a further inspection, but this is standard procedure.

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Changing face of Michigan

Once upon a time winning at Michigan was reserved for drivers who started in the top-10. In the LifeLock 400, the top five finishers all started 14th or worse including the winner Mark Martin who started 32nd.

Our View: That leaves the fall race wide open for fantasy owners to pick drivers based on their records and practice times.

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Martin wins at Michigan

For the second straight week, fuel mileage played an important role in the finish of a NASCAR race. This time Mark Martin passed Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson on the white flag lap when both of those drivers ran out of gas.

Our View: Even though Pocono and Michigan were determined by fuel mileage, the drivers raced hard until the final lap, which kept the outcome in doubt until the checkers waved.

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To the back at Michigan

Three cars will drop to the back before the start of the LifeLock 400. The No. 87 of Joe Nemechek, No. 77 of Sam Hornish Jr. and No. 24 of Jeff Gordon all changed engines, according to a tweet from @NASCARSays, NASCAR's official feed.

Our View: Gordon says he has a car fast enough to get to the front. Penske Racing South is also stout, so Hornish should be ok as well.

N'Wide: Meijer 300 by Ritz Results

The Nationwide standalone events are known as opportunity races because only a handful of Claim Jumpers make the long commute to compete with the Regulars. And in fact, eight of the top-10 positions were claimed by these racers, led by Brad Keselowski in third.

Unfortunately for them, the race was dominated by Cup drivers Joey Logano and Kyle Busch. These two racers provided what little excitement there was. At the end, the teenager Logano blasted past Busch with only a handful of laps remaining and cruised to an easy win. He became the first driver to win two wins and both of those victories came from the pole. He was also the first to driver to win two poles at Kentucky.

Next week will be another opportunity for the Nationwide Regulars to shine. The Cup drivers will be in Sonoma, Calif. for a road race while the second series is on the flat Milwaukee Mile. It's the toughest commute in NASCAR and only Busch and Carl Edwards will attempt it.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Status	Avg Fin
1	1	Joey Logano	200	Running	1.00
2	2	Kyle Busch	200	Running	11.50
3	9	Brad Keselowski	200	Running	3.50
4	6	Brendan Gaughan	200	Running	4.00
5	3	Justin Allgaier	200	Running	5.00
6	11	Jason Leffler	200	Running	16.60
7	4	Michael Annett	200	Running	7.00
8	18	Burney Lamar	200	Running	19.67
9	7	Ricky Stenhouse Jr	200	Running	9.00
10	42	Kelly Bires	200	Running	12.00
11	5	Erik Darnell	199	Running	11.00
12	8	Trevor Bayne	199	Running	12.00
13	15	Scott Lagasse Jr	199	Running	13.00
14	13	Steve Wallace	199	Running	16.00
15	27	Kevin Conway	199	Running	15.00
16	30	Scott Wimmer	198	Running	8.00
17	36	Ken Butler III	198	Running	17.00
18	33	Danny O'Quinn Jr	198	Running	26.33
19	22	Mark Green	197	Running	22.60
20	10	Carl Edwards	197	Running	22.00
21	38	Tony Raines	197	Running	11.00
22	28	Derrike Cope	197	Running	26.50
23	16	Jason Keller	196	Running	17.38
24	25	Brandon Whitt	196	Running	24.00
25	29	Morgan Shepherd	195	Running	38.80
26	24	Shelby Howard	195	Running	26.50
27	17	Bobby Hamilton Jr	192	In Pit	23.00
28	21	Mike Bliss	182	Accident	15.80
29	23	Michael McDowell	168	Handling	29.00
30	37	Eric McClure	154	Running	33.25
31	12	Stephen Leicht	137	Overheating	14.00
32	14	John Wes Townley	83	Accident	32.00
33	40	Mike Harmon	77	Handling	37.25
34	32	Kenny Hendrick	75	Accident	28.25
35	41	Brian Keselowski	38	Brakes	35.00
36	19	Kevin Hamlin	35	Electrical	28.50
37	20	Kenny Wallace	19	Engine	25.29
38	26	Chris Horn	17	Quit	38.25
39	31	Johnny Chapman	6	Quit	37.50
40	34	Brad Baker	2	Quit	29.00
41	43	Justin Hobgood	2	Quit	39.50
42	39	Chad Blount	1	Quit	32.00
43	35	Stanton Barrett	1	Quit	33.00
44		Jeff Green	0	Did Not Qualify	31.00
45		J C Stout	0	Did Not Qualify
46		Benny Gordon	0	Did Not Qualify
47		Blake Bjorkland	0	Did Not Qualify
48		Kevin Lepage	0	Did Not Qualify	18.00
49		Travis Kittleson	0	Did Not Qualify

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Michigan pit stall selections

Jayski.com has posted the pit stall selections. As expected, pole winner Brian Vickers took the final pit at the turn one end of pit road. Other drives with openings in front of them are Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, A.J. Allmendinger, Juan Montoya and Jimmie Johnson.

Our View: This could be one of the tie-breakers you use for drivers who are evenly matched in your estimation.

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Benson injured in fiery crash at Berlin

Recently out of his Camping World Truck Series ride, Johnny Benson Jr. too the opportunity to run in an ISMA Supermodified race on his home track Berlin Raceway, according to MichiganLive.com. What should have been a fun outing turned catastrophic when he crashed in turn three and his car burst into flames. Benson was transported to a local hospital, where he is serious, but stable condition.

Our View: According to his Web site, Benson has a broken rib, but should recover. Keep him in your prayers throughout the week.

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