Infineon Recap
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by Mike Wells ~ June 23rd, 2008 @ 5:57 am. Filed under: Water From The Well(s). 838 reads |
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Claiming his 5th win of the season, Kyle Busch runs away with the victory at Infineon. It would not come easy, because he would have to claw his way up from a 30th starting position. Busch led 78 of 110 laps. Busch breaks his two week mini slump with a car that was so bad during practice, he thought for sure he would wreck during the race.
“I’m not happy unless I am winning, to be honest. I am a miserable person,” he said. “But it means a lot to be able to run well and win. I’m a moody person, I guess. All of us drivers are when we’re not having a good day. But when you have a good day and win races, it’s kind of `Sun’s up.’ “
Busch, who had a poor qualifying run and started 30th, steadily moved through the field and grabbed the lead away from defending race winner Juan Pablo Montoya on an early restart. Nobody came close to taking the lead from him the rest of the way, but he did have to hold off a pair of challenges on two late restarts.
This victory marked the 11th overall win over the three Nascar series. It was also his second road course victory this year counting the Nationwide series win in Mexico in April. As with most victories, a burnout follows, but in this case Busch did his bow to the fans. It seemed this time there were more cheers than boos. Has the driver they have grown to dislike so, become a driver they like?
Jeff Gordon said “I am really impressed with Kyle. I’ve been around him, and I didn’t think he’s a really good road racer. So I think you’ve got to give that guy a lot of credit for his talent. To be able to get their car up front and maintain the position … I would not have bet on that. Obviously, he’s maturing and learning and that’s what it’s going to take for him to maintain that points lead.”
Many changes were made to Busch’s car to get it to handle the way he wanted it to. Busch was not happy with his car after Friday and Saturday’s practice. His crew made changes before the race and Busch didn’t feel much better about the car before the start of the race.
“I’m not a very happy person right now,” he said as he walked into the pre-race driver meeting.
Was he cocky or convinced? Kyle must have gotten happy with the latest changes with the car as the race went on because at one point he was comfortable enough to ask (while leading the race) what kind of food there would be on the plane ride home.
“We unloaded here and we were absolutely junk,” Busch said. “When we were here Friday, I just thought it was going to be a dismal weekend and I was wondering what tire barrier we were going to put it in. It was a bad feeling, but these guys worked so hard.
“It’s just phenomenal that we’re able to be here in Victory Lane—never before on a road course, in the Cup Series, so this is definitely really, really special. We came a long ways with this thing.”
David Reuitmann brought out a late caution when he had a flat tire causing him to run off the track and into a wall of tires. The restart set up a finish with only 6 laps to go. Tony Stewart was making moves to take 2nd until Kevin Harvick spins out entering turn 4 starting a chain reaction that takes him out a chance at winning.
When asked about what he thought about it Stewart said, “I haven’t seen it, so it’s not fair to comment on that.”
That caution set up a final restart with three laps to go and Gilliland and Gordon lined up behind Busch. He pulled out to another giganic lead, but a wreck between Pruett and Hamlin brought out a red-flag so NASCAR could clean the track. The red flag lasted 12 minutes, forcing Busch to sit idle and think about the impending three-lap sprint to the finish.
Busch once again moved out to a large lead, and the only real races for position were back in the pack. Montoya jockeyed for position with Mears and Sadler, while Kenseth, Edwards and Dale Jr. dealt with their own battle.
Montoya moved through the field early and took the lead until Busch grabbed it from him. But Montoya was spun by Ambrose while running second, and the contact dropped the Colombian to 14th.
Ambrose was later spun by Sadler, and the contact came as he was shifting— causing him to break his gearbox. Ambrose, who was running fifth in his Sprint Cup Series debut, wound up 42nd.
Infineon Penalty Report:
Car #, Reason, Penalty, Lap Issued
#60, Excessive speed - Exiting pits, PT, 32
#31, Excessive speed - Exiting pits, PT, 67
#15, Excessive speed - Exiting pits, TE, 70
#60, Excessive Speed-Entering pits, TE, 71
#55, Excessive speed - Exiting pits, TE, 71
#01, Pitting before Pit Road is Open, TE, 105
#41, Pitting before Pit Road is Open, TE, 108
Other notes;
Where will Mears go? Before the season started Hendrick seemed happy with Mears but now, it don’t seem that way at all.
Asked before Sunday’s race at Infineon Raceway if he was committed to Mears through for the full length of his contract, Hendrick avoided the question.
“I’m committed to him right now,” Hendrick said. “I’m committed to him making that car run better right now.”
Mears’ contract runs through the end of the 2009 season, and although he scored his only career victory at Charlotte last year with Hendrick, his results haven’t matched the team potential. He had 10 top-10s last season and finished 15th in the points last year. This season, he has just two top-10s and is 27th in the standings.
“(I’m concentrating) on getting that car running better and working hard on that anything else is speculation,” Hendrick said. “We’re looking at everything right now. I’m not ready to make any announcements. What’s there to tell? We want to get it in the Chase and want to win races.”
Mears finished a season-best fifth Sunday.
“We just have gotten off to a horrible start this year and it just feels really good to get a top-five,” he said. “Everybody on the team needed this. These guys have been working really hard, everybody has been working really hard to find out exactly what it is to do to get better.”
Unofficial Results:
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Total Award Status Times Laps
1 30 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 112 195 10 $309,925 Running 2 78
2 31 38 David Gilliland freecreditreport.com Ford 112 170 $207,658 Running
3 5 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevy 112 165 $191,736 Running
4 19 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevy 112 160 $143,725 Running
5 23 5 Casey Mears Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevy 112 155 $123,075 Running
6 21 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Texaco/Havoline Dodge 112 150 $130,533 Running
7 9 12 Ryan Newman alltel Dodge 112 146 $140,025 Running
8 33 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 112 142 $142,841 Running
9 12 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 112 143 5 $134,725 Running 1 2
10 39 20 Tony Stewart Home Depot Toyota 112 134 $136,261 Running
11 10 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 112 135 5 $95,600 Running 1 1
12 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard/AMP Energy 112 127 $94,050 Running
13 20 31 Jeff Burton AT&T Mobility Chevy 112 124 $128,508 Running
14 26 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 112 121 $84,200 Running
15 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevy 112 123 5 $135,336 Running 1 27
16 25 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats 112 115 $113,433 Running
17 11 45 Terry Labonte Wells Fargo Dodge 112 112 $97,883 Running
18 18 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford 112 109 $89,375 Running
19 6 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Dodge 112 106 $106,695 Running
20 16 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Toyota 112 103 $96,233 Running
21 34 00 Michael McDowell # NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 112 100 $92,233 Running
22 41 28 Travis Kvapil California Highway Patrol Ford 112 97 $105,639 Running
23 37 10 Patrick Carpentier # Valvoline Dodge 112 94 $75,350 Running
24 38 6 David Ragan AAA Insurance Ford 112 91 $85,250 Running
25 35 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 112 88 $86,672 Running
26 24 78 Joe Nemechek Furniture Row Racing Chevy 112 85 $72,800 Running
27 13 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 112 82 $110,441 Running
28 40 8 Aric Almirola U.S. Army Chevy 112 79 $108,933 Running
29 22 01 Ron Fellows Principal Financial Group/DEI 112 76 $82,550 Running
30 32 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevy 112 73 $118,861 Running
31 17 77 Sam Hornish Jr. # Mobil 1 Dodge 112 70 $116,825 Running
32 3 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 111 67 $74,605 Running
33 1 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 111 69 5 $110,936 Running 1 4
34 29 15 Paul Menard Menards/Johns Manville 111 61 $78,880 Running
35 28 66 Max Papis Haas Automation Chevy 111 58 $70,745 Running
36 8 7 Robby Gordon Camping World/RVs.com Dodge 110 55 $78,635 Running
37 36 84 AJ Allmendinger Red Bull Toyota 109 52 $70,500 Running
38 27 41 Scott Pruett Target Dodge 108 49 $97,599 Accident
39 4 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge 103 46 $107,511 Electrical
40 42 44 David Reutimann UPS Toyota 99 43 $70,125 Accident
41 14 60 Boris Said Slurpee/No Fear Energy Ford 94 40 $70,000 Shocks
42 7 21 Marcos Ambrose Little Debbie Honey Buns Ford 83 37 $88,250 Transmission
43 43 34 Brian Simo No Fear Ford 20 34 $70,164 Transmission
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June 23rd, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I just wonder why the media always makes Kyles wins more than they are ? Kyle Clawed his way from 30th, you were watching a differt race than me cause the one I saw Kyle got the lead a gained a bunch of positions due to pit road, he didnt do no clawing thru the field, he got there thru pit road! If your gonna tell it, tell it right!