Darlington Stripes

"The Lady in Black" continues to be "Too Tough to Tame" and the first Darlington stripe came barely five minutes into the first session. According to @NASCAR, Joey Logano was the first driver to get a stripe.
 
Our View Here is a ongoing list of who has scraped the wall so far:

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (backup) and then he striped the backup as well. Practice 1
Clint Bowyer (backup) Practice 1
Scott Speed (backup) Practice 1
Greg Biffle (backup) Happy Hour
Joe Nemechek, hard crash (backup) Happy Hour
Casey Mears, hard crash (backup) Happy Hour
Marcos Ambrose, crash (backup) Happy Hour

Joey Logano Practice 1
Travis Kvapil Practice 1
Jamie McMurray Practice 1
Kyle Busch Happy Hour and qualification

Juan Montoya, very slight Practice 1
Kurt Busch, spin without contact Happy Hour

Darlington International Raceway 1950-1967



Darlington Raceway: 50th Anniversary

Bowyer fastest in Vegas Happy Hour

Clint Bowyer posted the fastest single lap in Happy Hour for the Shelby American with a speed of 183.530 mph. The session was shortened a little by rain.

Our View RCR has the greatest momentum of all teams and with a decent qualification run in the top 15, Bowyer is liable to be the best of that group.

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Some chassis choices for Vegas

@DustinLong has identified some of the cars that will be used this week:

Among RCR, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton will have new cars this weekend; Clint Bowyer using same car he drove at Indy (21st) & Kansas (18th) last yearr.

Kurt Busch using same car @ Vegas that he won with at Texas last year and should have won with at Homestead.

Denny Hamlin will use this weekend @ Vegas has won in both its starts, winning at both Pocono and Martinsville last year.

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Bowyer quickest in Daytona 500 Happy Hour

Teammate Jeff Burton may have been the fastest driver in Happy Hour practice for the Daytona 500, but Clint Bowyer had the distinction of being the quickest in terms of average speeds with a 191.050 during 11 laps.

Our View His times were skewed somewhat by the relative few laps he ran, but that speed is confirmed by Kevin Harvick, who was second quick with a 191.003 during 16 laps.

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Bowyer triggers three-car incident

At the one hour mark of the first practice session for the Gatorade 150s, Clint Bowyer apparently cut a tire and slammed the wall. In the slowdown, he collected David Reutimann and a late entering Derrike Cope.

Our View All three drivers sustained significant damage, but there is no word yet on who will roll out a backup car. Bowyer and Reutimann are locked into the Daytona 500, but this could effectively end Cope's chances of making the show.

Update: Bowyer will have to roll out a backup car.
Update: Reutimann will also roll out a backup car.

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Four drivers to backup Shootout cars, six wreck

Four drivers involved in a six-car accident in the final minutes of the first practice session for the Budweiser Shootout will be forced to roll out a backup. They are Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray. Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer (in Kevin Harvick's car) suffered minor damage but are not expected to go to their backups.

Our View The accident happened when Hamlin clipped the back of Martin's car and turned him sideways in front of the field. Both drivers accepted partial blame and there are no hard feelings as fallout.

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Crash-prone Edwards, Hornish already sustain damage at 'Dega

Barely eight minutes into practice, Sam Hornish Jr. and Carl Edwards slammed into one another in an accordion-style accident that was apparently started when Jeff Gordon was forced out of his drafting line.

Our View If you were listening to this morning's fantasy segment on SiriusXM radio, you would have head me predict that Sam Hornish Jr. and Carl Edwards would crash in the Amp Energy 500. It's not race time yet, but both drivers sustained crash damage in less than 10 laps.

Clint Bowyer was also spun off the track in the aftermath.

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Kansas pit stall selections

Jayski.com has posted the pit stall selections, and as expected pole sitter Mark Martin took the final box at the exit of the pits.

Our View Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne and Brad Keselowski also have openings in front of them and will be able to pull straight out. Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Scott Speed, Brian Vickers and Jeff Gordon have openings behind them and can pit shallowly to give themselves a little more room.

Kansas has a wide, long pit road, however, and no one should have too much trouble.

Complete List

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Official tweets from the track

N'Wide: Bowyer crashes in Kansas practice

Clint Bowyer slammed the wall hard in practice for the Nationwide Series Kansas Lottery 150 and will have to roll out a backup car.

Our View The good news is that Bowyer was third on the speed chart at the time and his RCR-prepared No. 29 is liable to have a goo backup.

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N'Wide: Bowyer wins at Dover

Kyle Busch dominated Dover early but Clint Bowyer had the right handle when it mattered most. He held off late-race charges by Busch, Mike Bliss and Brad Keselowski to win his second career race on the concrete high banks.

Our View In addition, Bowyer now has a seven-race top-10 streak there.

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Bristol pit stalls

Jayski has published the pit stall selections for the Bristol race.

Our View There are really only four good stalls at either end of the front and back pits. Pole sitter Mark Martin took the final pit stall before turn one, Greg Biffle has the final stall before turn three while Matt Kenseth and Scott Speed have the first stalls entering the pits. However, Clint Bowyer also is in a nice position; he is in pit stall four with the start and park Dave Blaney immediately ahead of him.

For a complete list of the stalls, visit Jayski.com.

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Bowyer crashes at Watkins Glen

Moments after Patrick Carpentier crashed in Watkins Glen, Clint Bowyer went into the pea gravel in the final combination of turns.

Our View The damage is probably not very great, but they are going to have to go over the car with a fine tooth comb to get all the gravel out of the nooks and crannies.

Road Kill

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Bowyer wins Pocono Happy Hour

Clint Bowyer posted only the seventh fastest single lap in Pocono's Happy Hour, but he was the quickest overall with a speed of 163.007 during 16 laps.

Our View Especially on a long track like Pocono, races are run in the long run. Bowyer could be a surprise top-10 driver this week.

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Harvick wants out of RCR

Kevin Harvick would like to leave Richard Childress Racing (RCR) one year earlier than his contract specifies, according to SportsIllustrated.com.

Our View: With the current struggles at RCR, this would seem a little like kicking a man while he's down, but Harvick has been the odd man out at the organization since Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer came on board. Harvick is eying a move to Stewart-Haas, where his controversial personality might be a better match.

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N'Wide: Subway Jalapeno 250 results, with avg. finish

An incredibly frustrating season came to an end Friday night when Clint Bowyer won the Subway Jalapeno 250 after earning the pole earlier that day.

This was the debut of double-file restarts in the Nationwide Series and it worked as most would have predicted. A green-white-checkered finish was made even more dramatic by the new procedure and it kept the result in question. With the race on the line and the pack bunched up, however, the second series drivers were unable to keep it clean all the way to the checkered flag and a frozen field left the top-five packed with Cup Regulars.

Kyle Busch finished second, Carl Edwards was third, Joey Logano credited in fourth and Kasey Kahne finished fifth. As usual, Brad Keselowski was the best of the Nationwide Regulars and managed a sixth.

Results, with average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg Fin
1	1	Clint Bowyer	102	48	Running	6.80
2	19	Kyle Busch	102	2	Running	15.25
3	11	Carl Edwards	102		Running	13.00
4	23	Joey Logano	102		Running	12.00
5	15	Kasey Kahne	102		Running	22.21
6	4	Brad Keselowski	102		Running	12.25
7	30	Brian Vickers	102		Running	18.10
8	31	Justin Allgaier	102		Running	24.00
9	2	David Ragan	102	7	Running	18.67
10	3	Kevin Harvick	102		Running	6.07
11	34	Michael Waltrip	102	4	Running	21.13
12	26	Steve Wallace	102		Running	28.83
13	39	Michael McDowell	102		Running	18.00
14	6	Matt Kenseth	102	24	Running	5.91
15	37	Matt Carter	102		Running	15.00
16	36	Kenny Wallace	102	1	Running	15.74
17	41	Brendan Gaughan	102		Running	16.00
18	38	Scott Lagasse Jr	102		Running	30.50
19	24	Jason Leffler	102		Running	16.58
20	12	Bobby Gerhart	102		Running	22.00
21	42	Scott Wimmer	102		Running	19.75
22	16	Jason Keller	102		Running	19.00
23	28	Tony Raines	102	1	Running	24.11
24	14	Joe Nemechek	102		Running	20.95
25	43	Johnny Borneman III	101		Accident	25.00
26	32	Robert Richardson	101		Accident	29.50
27	5	David Gilliland	101		Accident	24.25
28	33	Eric McClure	101	1	Running	32.71
29	29	Mike Bliss	100		Accident	25.55
30	40	Danny O'Quinn Jr	99		Running	28.00
31	20	Mike Harmon	97		Running	28.00
32	10	Morgan Shepherd	95		Accident	20.08
33	18	Kertus Davis	94		Accident	34.38
34	13	Jeff Green	94		Accident	22.46
35	9	Michael Annett	84		Brakes	35.00
36	22	John Wes Townley	81	1	Running	28.50
37	35	Chase Austin	76	1	Accident	37.00
38	8	Kerry Earnhardt	76		Accident	29.89
39	21	Mark Green	62		Accident	23.09
40	7	Dale Earnhardt Jr	58		Accident	12.18
41	27	Patrick Sheltra	57		Accident	41.00
42	17	Donnie Neuenberger	9		Accident	33.56
43	25	Johnny Chapman	2		Quit	29.75
44		Terry Cook	0		DNQ
45		Brian Keselowski	0		DNQ	25.00
46		Mike Wallace	0		DNQ	17.58

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N'Wide: Bowyer wins Coke Zero 400

In the debut of the Nationwide series double file restarts, fans got their money's worth. Clint Bowyer held off Carl Edwards on a green-white-checkered finish to win his first race at Daytona.

Our View: Kyle Busch finished second, but NASCAR will have to determine the remainder of the field since an accident at the white flag caused this race to ultimately end under caution.

Bowyer about New Hampshire

It's been a special track for me. It's where I got my first win in the Cup Series. It's just a fun racetrack. It seems like these mile racetracks are playing in my favor, and I enjoy it. Running in the Nationwide race this weekend. So looking forward to an action-packed weekend and Shane and all of the guys on The Hartford Chevrolet have been working hard and making sure that we are ready to go.

I think we have stopped the bleeding a little bit. We got going the wrong way in the points there and stopped the bleeding, got things pointed back in the right direction and I think we have got four Top-12s here in a row, so definitely got the consistency back that we are made out of and hopefully we'll start our march back into inside the Chase here in the next few weeks.

But you know, getting back to New Hampshire, I just enjoy the racetrack. I enjoy the raciness of the racetrack, being able to control a little bit of your own destiny. As you said, getting back to my first win, that's the one that you'll never forget, you know, and to be able to win it in pretty much dominant fashion meant a lot to me, and beating your peers and everything else. It's just a great weekend.

This is our second race with having The Hartford on the Chevrolet, so looking forward to that, and the first week of our contest. Enter to win this contest, enter at thehartfordracing.com, enter a chance to win a trip to Homestead Miami at the season final and a boating excursion with me championship weekend. It will be a lot of fun and a good time, so make sure you enter at thehartfordracing.com.

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Bowyer wins Michigan Happy Hour

Clint Bowyer posted the quickest average speed in Michigan's Happy Hour with a speed of 181.688 mph during nine laps.

Our View: Running so few laps is kind of a double-edged sword. He was happy with his car, but we would have preferred to see a little more track time to form a firm opinion.

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N'Wide: Leffler tops Nashville practice 1

Jason Leffler posted the fastest lap of the first practice session. He posted a speed of 159.811 mph.

Our View: Leffler was followed by Michael McDowell, Stephen Leicht (practicing Clint Bowyer's car), Sean Caisse and Scot Lagasse Jr. With less than a handful of Claim Jumpers in the field this week, the Nationwide Regulars have a chance to shine.

Complete Practice Times

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N'Wide: Dover Results

Once again, Kyle Busch led the most laps at a race and failed to win. This time his disappointment was intensified by the fact that it was his teammate Joey Logano who helped ruin his day. Busch may have had a tire going down on the final restart, but he failed to get up to speed quickly enough to keep from being run into from behind by the No. 20. One way or the other, Logano proved that he is hungry for victory. He wound up second.

Brad Keselowski was in the right place to take advantage of the contact, and he won his third Nationwide Series race. The No. 88 has been a consistently strong contender in the second series, so chances are good that you were rooting for him at the end.

Clint Bowyer, Brian Vickers and Carl Edwards round out the top 10.

Results, with career average finish

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Laps Led	Status	Avg Fin
1	12	Brad Keselowski	200	2	Running	8.40
2	1	Joey Logano	200	87	Running	7.33
3	17	Clint Bowyer	200		Running	6.86
4	7	Brian Vickers	200		Running	6.20
5	8	Carl Edwards	200		Running	9.67
6	10	Paul Menard	200		Running	21.71
7	4	Scott Speed	200		Running	7.00
8	23	Jason Leffler	200		Running	15.08
9	13	Jason Keller	200		Running	13.17
10	21	Justin Allgaier	200		Running	10.00
11	29	Michael McDowell	200		Running	11.00
12	9	Brendan Gaughan	200		Running	12.00
13	5	Kevin Harvick	200		Running	12.57
14	16	Mike Bliss	200		Running	10.89
15	30	Bobby Hamilton Jr	200		Running	14.87
16	39	Brian Keselowski	200		Running	16.00
17	3	Kyle Busch	200	108	Running	16.10
18	14	Scott Wimmer	199		Running	11.15
19	40	Michael Annett	198	1	Running	19.00
20	31	Brandon Whitt	198		Running	21.50
21	38	Danny O'Quinn Jr	196		Running	22.50
22	34	Morgan Shepherd	196		Running	24.00
23	18	Eric McClure	196		Running	25.40
24	41	Kevin Conway	194		Running	27.00
25	11	Greg Biffle	191		Running	9.60
26	42	Mike Harmon	175		Black Flagged Too Slow	36.56
27	33	Scott Lagasse Jr	158		Accident	33.33
28	37	Tony Raines	151		Running	17.38
29	20	Steve Wallace	145		Accident	23.00
30	2	David Ragan	145		Accident	25.00
31	25	Peyton Sellers	128		Running	31.00
32	6	Ryan Newman	126		Accident	18.00
33	28	Kenny Wallace	97	2	Engine	14.85
34	22	Marc Davis	83		Accident	34.00
35	35	Kevin Lepage	65		Accident	24.86
36	43	Kertus Davis	43		Overheating	33.20
37	36	Ken Butler III	26		Accident	37.00
38	27	John Wes Townley	26		Accident	34.00
39	19	Mark Green	14		Quit	26.00
40	26	Johnny Chapman	13		Quit	38.00
41	15	Terry Cook	11		Quit	41.00
42	24	Dennis Setzer	8		Quit	26.89
43	32	Casey Atwood	8		Quit	22.00
44		Jeffrey Earnhardt	0		Did Not Qualify