Tag: race

Toyota Owners 400

Toyota_Owners_400_logoKurt Busch has taken home the Toyota Owners 400 in Richmond, Virginia this past weekend in an emotional win that is sure to give him great confidence moving forward in the racing season. After sitting out three races earlier this year from legal troubles, Kurt has returned to the drivers seat with a chip on his shoulder. Despite his absence, Busch has done well enough to likely earn himself a place at the Chase Cup table, pending he can remain in the top 30 for the remainder of the year.

Since a new crew chief has taken to his right hand, Busch has been able to be a major player in every race he starts. Tony Gibson as his chief helped Kurt to tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Fred Lorenzen with 26 wins in Cup Races.

Leading 294 laps of 400 is about as dominant a performance you can ask for from anyone taking the checkered flag. TAn emotional Busch was able to battle with troubles in his personal life, only to overcome them and find himself in the winners circle. Gibson places the credit solely on Kurt’s shoulders as the crew chief praised him for his attention to detail in car setup. Admitting that his car was “a fifth place car at best”, Gibson pointed out that Kurt has the eye of the tiger when it came to driving a sound, mistake free race.

Busch, ever humble, puts the win on his crack team of engineers Gibson who helped make overnight changes to the car in order to give him the best chances of winning. A total team effort is what it takes to win any Cup Race, and that is exactly what the Number 41 car had this past weekend.

Finishing the race in a one-two punch for Stewart-Haas Racing was Busch (1), Kevin Harvick (2), followed by Jimmie Johnson (3) and Jamie McMurray (4).

Atlanta Motor Speedway and Kasey Kahne

According to a recent article: Kasey Kahne was able to pull out a dramatic win at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sunday night on the way to his first checkered flag of the year, 17th of his career. Kahne is no stranger to being under pressure late in the year when the chance for the playoff chase is hanging in the balance. He made the most of his opportunity though on Sunday edging out Matt Kenseth who was also winless on the year.

In a night full of wrecks and cautions there was much excitement building up to the dramatic finish. With Kahne’s victory he rounds out the Hendricks Racing team to be qualified for the Chase, all four are now in the running.John Jellinek

The Chase consists of 16 possible spots available to be able to dance for the Cup. With the results on Sunday, Kahne fills the 13th spot, and Kenseth, with his second place finish, grabs the 14th spot on points.

Harvick led almost 200 of the 335 laps during the race, losing the lead during each of his pitts. With the pitts not serving him well, it seems to be a rolling trend for him this year as his car has been fast, but pitts been slow.

Restarts were what served Kahne well that night as he took advantage of race stoppage to make up lost ground and recompose himself.Apart from the drama in the ending of the race, another type of excitement found its way onto the track at Atlanta Motor Speedway. A squirrel scurried onto the track during the first half of the race causing the then leader Harvick to almost flatten him around Turn 3 and 4.

In the bigger picture of the point rankings, Jeff Gordon leads all drivers, 21 points ahead of second place Dale Jr. Gordon blew a tire out on lap 78 and was forced to rally to finish 17th overall.