LifeLock 400 Results, with avg. finish

Mark Martin led only a single lap en route to his third victory of the season, but it was the one that counted. While the two most dominant drivers Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle baited one another into running too fast while trying to conserve gas, Martin refused to play their game and ran the pace he and crew chief Alan Gustafson decided upon.

Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon admitted he might have been running too conservatively with plenty of gas at the end of the LifeLock 400. He finished second, giving Hendrick Motorsports a one-two finish.

Johnson ran out of gas on the frontstretch as the field took the white flag; Biffle lasted until the middle of the backstretch, then he also ran short on fuel. Both managed to finish on the lead lap, but Johnson was only in 22nd; Biffle was fifth.

Results with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg Fin
1	32	Mark Martin	200	1	Running	12.87
2	27	Jeff Gordon	200		Running	11.45
3	14	Denny Hamlin	200	1	Running	13.71
4	29	Carl Edwards	200	1	Running	6.30
5	20	Greg Biffle	200	42	Running	12.54
6	7	Juan Montoya	200		Running	27.60
7	11	Tony Stewart	200		Running	12.19
8	5	Kurt Busch	200	9	Running	19.41
9	1	Brian Vickers	200		Running	16.55
10	9	Clint Bowyer	200		Running	23.00
11	31	Jamie McMurray	200		Running	17.92
12	25	Elliott Sadler	200		Running	22.10
13	2	Kyle Busch	200		Running	16.89
14	30	Dale Earnhardt Jr	200		Running	16.55
15	23	David Ragan	200		Running	13.00
16	15	Bill Elliott	200		Running	13.95
17	13	Robby Gordon	200		Running	25.63
18	12	Kevin Harvick	200		Running	15.41
19	4	David Reutimann	200		Running	21.20
20	16	Matt Kenseth	200		Running	9.65
21	8	Kasey Kahne	200		Running	16.82
22	3	Jimmie Johnson	200	146	Running	14.87
23	18	Ryan Newman	199		Running	18.88
24	37	Casey Mears	199		Running	19.77
25	24	Joey Logano	199		Running	25.00
26	22	Jeff Burton	199		Running	16.13
27	28	Reed Sorenson	199		Running	24.00
28	17	Bobby Labonte	199		Running	14.88
29	34	Sam Hornish Jr	198		Running	24.33
30	36	Michael Waltrip	198		Running	20.63
31	33	Marcos Ambrose	198		Running	37.00
32	35	David Gilliland	198		Running	28.00
33	10	John Andretti	198		Running	24.32
34	38	Paul Menard	197		Running	23.33
35	43	Max Papis	193		Running	35.00
36	19	Martin Truex Jr	192		Running	17.00
37	21	Scott Speed	174		Running	37.00
38	26	David Stremme	159		Accident	29.20
39	6	A J Allmendinger	144		Running	29.25
40	39	Dave Blaney	23		Quit	24.42
41	42	Sterling Marlin	23		Quit	18.96
42	40	Joe Nemechek	20		Quit	25.55
43	41	Tony Raines	17		Quit	34.80
44		Mike Skinner	0		DNQ	27.13

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Busch, Speed to race in Grand Am

Chip Ganassi will field a second car in the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona International Speedway during the Fourth of July weekend, according to NASCAR.com. The two drivers will be Kyle Busch and Scott Speed.

Our View: The road course at Daytona is unlike Infineon and Watkins Glen, but seat time on this track type is always helpful.

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Mayhew looks to run up front at Infineon

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 15, 2009) – David Mayhew (No. 17 MMI Services/Ron’s Rear Ends/KHI Chevrolet) has not had much chance to show his road-racing skills since coming into the NASCAR Camping World Series two years ago. He hopes to change that this season.

His first opportunity comes this week when the NASCAR Camping World Series West heads to Infineon Raceway for the Bennett Lane Winery 200 presented by Supercuts on Saturday, June 20. The race is a companion event as part of the big NASCAR weekend with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Sonoma, Calif., road course.

The twisting track, which hosts the first of three road course events on this year’s NASCAR Camping World Series West schedule, is one where Mayhew spent much time early in his racing career.

“I’ve run quite a bit at Sonoma,” said the 27-year-old California driver, who originally hailed from Atascadero, but now lives in Bakersfield. “I won a bunch of scholarships through karting to the Jim Russell School there. I ran the school series they have there for a year. We were there all the time, testing and such. So, I’ve got quite a bit of road-racing experience at Sonoma. I did a lot of Formula Ford and open-wheel stuff before I made the move to NASCAR. So, I’m looking forward to getting back up there and turning both ways.”

This will only be Mayhew’s second time to compete in a NASCAR Camping World Series West car at Infineon Raceway. The team he drove for in 2007 ran a limited schedule and did not enter the event. Last year, Mayhew qualified fourth and ran with the leaders early, but was sidelined by a mechanical problem.

He’s confident of being up front again this year. “We’re going up there to win the race and get as many points as possible,” Mayhew said. “Running against Jason (Bowles) and Eric (Holmes) every week, it seems like that’s the place you’ve got to win to gain any points on them. That’s our plan. With the background we have up there, turning left and right, I think we should do pretty well.”

Although Mayhew is driving for his third team in three years, the transition does not appear to have had a negative impact on his performance.

“You just go out there and whatever car you’re given, you’ve got to do the best you can,” he said. “You can’t control the situations that you’re put in. So, whatever comes along, that’s what we try to do and make the best of it.”

And Mayhew seems to be doing precisely that this year. He’s third in the championship standings – 64 points out of first – with one win, four top-five and five top-10 finishes in six races. Not bad for a team that did not plan on chasing points. “We originally did the deal to just go have fun and run a few races here and there,” Mayhew said of car owner Steve McGowan and crew chief Terry Henry, who gets behind the wheel of a second car for some events. “Things started going real well. Steve’s got good cars and good equipment and Terry does an awesome job as a crew chief when he’s not driving.”

“We don’t have any full-time guys or anybody working at the shop full time. So, it’s me and Terry and Steve most of the time at night,” Mayhew said of the Bakersfield-based team. “We go to have fun. Obviously, winning is a lot more fun than not. That’s why we do it and keep on going back.”

The team does get help from Bakersfield native and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and his Kevin Harvick Incorporated team.“

Steve and Kevin have a good relationship,” Mayhew said. “They (KHI) help us in getting the cars ready for some of the races, with setups and stuff like that. It really helps out. At some of the other races, like Phoenix, we used some of their guys to help crew chief my car when Terry was racing. It really helps our program as a whole, getting information from someone like KHI.”

From a NASCAR Press Release

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Pardo dies in NASCAR Mexico crash

Carlos Pardo died due to injuries sustained in a NASCAR Mexico race on the Autodromo Miguel E. Abed in Puebla, Mexico. He was leading the race at the time of his accident. Since the race was not finished because of a time limit and NASCAR Mexico rules revert to the last completed green flag lap, he ironically won his final race.

Pardo also competed in various Camping World East and Nationwide series races during his career.

Our View: Our condolences go out to his brother and fellow competitor Ruben Pardo and the rest of his family and friends.

Full Story

Trucks: Former Milwaukee winners

Milwaukee was accustomed to unique winners before Johnny Benson Jr. came along.

Prior to 2006, only Ted Musgrave had won more than a single event on this track, which made it all the more incredible that Benson rattled off three straight victories there from 2006 through 2008. It was beginning to look like he would have the horsepower to make it four in a row since Kyle Busch was ready to place him in the No. 15 Billy Ballew Toyota. Unfortunately, Benson has bigger things on his mind at the moment as he recuperates from a heavy crash in an ISMA Supermodified race at Berlin Raceway.

Former Winners

Season	Race	Winner
2008	Camping World RV Sales 200	Johnny Benson Jr
2007	Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200	Johnny Benson Jr
2006	Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200	Johnny Benson Jr
2005	Toyota Tundra Milwaukee 200	Dennis Setzer
2004	Black Cat Fireworks 200	Ted Musgrave
2003	GNC Live Well 200	Brendan Gaughan
2002	GNC Live Well 200	Terry Cook
2001	GNC Live Well 200	Ted Musgrave
2000	Sears Diehard 200	Kurt Busch
1999	Diehard 200	Greg Biffle
1998	Diehard 200	Mike Bliss
1997	Sears Diehard 200	Ron Hornaday Jr
1996	Sears Auto Center 200	Jack Sprague
1995	Sears Auto Center 125	Mike Skinner

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IRL: Iowa's last two races

With only two previous Iowa Speedway races in the Indy Racing League book, there isn't a lot to go on this week, but fantasy players may find some inspiration in who ran well in these few events.

Dario Franchitti took last year off to make an attempt at NASCAR Sprint Cup racing, but before he left, he won his only race at Iowa after starting third. This short track was patterned after Richmond International Raceway and on that course, he's been nearly perfect with finishes of second (2005), third (2006) and first (2007) in four attempts. That speaks volumes about his odds for this week.

Marco Andretti has run both Iowa races and he's been close to perfect. With a second in 2007 and a third in 2008, he's come close to winning twice. Perhaps there is something in short track racing that is appealing to his somewhat aggressive style of competition. By contrast, his teammates Tony Kanaan (with a 16th in 2007 and an 18th last year) and Danica Patrick (13th and sixth respectively) have not been nearly as strong.

Last year's winner Dan Wheldon proved that fantasy players cannot always rely strictly on past records. After a modest showing of 11th in 2007, he stormed into victory lane last year, so don't be afraid to take drivers with momentum on their side.

Average finish, last two races

Driver	Avg Finish	2008	2007
Dario Franchitti	1.00		1
Hideki Mutoh	2.00	2
Marco Andretti	2.50	3	2
Scott Sharp	3.00		3
Dan Wheldon	6.00	1	11
Ryan Briscoe	7.00	7
Scott Dixon	7.00	4	10
Sarah Fisher	7.00		7
Ryan Hunter-Reay	8.00	8
Anthony Foyt IV	8.50	5	12
Will Power	9.00	9
Danica Patrick	9.50	6	13
Graham Rahal	10.00	10
Helio Castroneves	11.00	14	8
John Andretti	11.00	11
Justin Wilson	12.00	12
Vitor Meira	12.00	15	9
E J Viso	13.00	13
Buddy Rice	13.00	22	4
Darren Manning	13.00	21	5
Sam Hornish Jr	14.00		14
Ed Carpenter	14.50	23	6
Kosuke Matsuura	15.00		15
Oriol Servia	16.00	16
Tony Kanaan	17.00	18	16
Jeff Simmons	17.00		17
Enrique Bernoldi	17.00	17
Mario Moraes	19.00	19
Tomas Scheckter	19.00		19
Jaime Camara	20.00	20
Milka Duno	21.00	24	18
Bruno Junqueira	25.00	25
Marty Roth	26.00	26

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Gordon on Infineon restarts

WE HAVE DOUBLE-FILE RESTARTS COMING UP NEXT WEEK ON A ROAD COURSE. I BELIEVE IT IS REALLY GOING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. WOULD YOU AGREE WITH THAT?

“Absolutely. I think NASCAR knew that trying it at Pocono and at Michigan were two good tracks to test it out and get some of the bugs worked out. I think its going to create some havoc at Sonoma and I am just anxious to get through it and see how it turns out and see if we need to………the only way to know what you have is to race with it and while I’m not sure if we need it at a road course they are pretty adamant to do it there and we’ll see how it turns out.

“You know sometimes it’s a combination of as drivers we have to rethink how we have raced in the past because now we have to figure out how to get through the first corners of the first lap with the double-file restart, but at the same time we have been put into a position that you have to fight even harder and be more intense and sometimes that causes more accidents and mistakes.”

IS THERE A PREFERRED POSITION THERE TO BE ON THE INSIDE OR THE OUTSIDE (at Infineon)?

“You know, I have played it both ways just in the restarts out there and that first kink to the left doesn’t look like much but it is a pretty decent turn. And I think that’s the thing that its not so much the guys on the front row but it’s the guys behind them that are trying to get that track position because it's so valuable there. Its slick out there and there is not a lot of grip out there, you are going uphill, and you are downshifting but I’m not sure right now what the preferred line is for the restart. The good thing is that whoever the leader is, he restarts the race, so I like that.

From a GM Press Release

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