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KANNAPOLIS, N.C  – Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway is one of the few tracks on the NASCAR schedule where Danica Patrick has a lot of experience.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has made seven starts at Sonoma dating back to 2005.

Those seven starts came in the IZOD IndyCar Series and unfortunately won’t offer much assistance to Patrick as she competes in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350k NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Sonoma.

About the only things familiar to Patrick will be the garage area, pit lane and portions of the track. The reason only portions of the track will be familiar is that the IndyCar Series used two different layouts during the seven years Patrick competed there and neither is identical to the 1.99-mile, 10-turn course she will drive on Sunday.

It will be Patrick’s first career Sprint Cup Series start on a road course and she is hoping her efforts produce better results than her three NASCAR Nationwide Series road-course finishes last year.

All three were memorable, if not downright strange.

In June at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., Patrick was fourth on the final lap when she was bumped into the gravel trap by Jacques Villeneueve, which caused her to finish 12^th. Two months later, Patrick finished 43^rd at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International after Ryan Truex spun in front of her on the start and she could not avoid his spinning car and made heavy contact with his machine.

But the strangest experience of all came one week later when Patrick led 20 laps and was on the point at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal when a fan threw a shoe onto the track and she ran over it on lap 38 of 81. Shortly thereafter, whether the shoe caused the problem or not, Patrick was forced to pit for mechanical repairs and finished 27^th.

At Sonoma, Patrick is hoping to run a smooth and clean race, avoid any shoes on course, and build upon a solid 13^th-place finish she and the GoDaddy team scored last week at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.

DANICA PATRICK, Driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Last year, you ran well on the road courses in the Nationwide Series. How confident are you going into Sonoma?

“Every step up, you take it to another level of difficulty and, by all means, in the Cup series there are a lot of good road-course drivers. It’s going to be challenging. I don’t think it’s going to be one of those things where I’m going to go qualify in the first two rows and lead the race the whole time, or at least I shouldn’t expect to be able to just do that right away. It still took a little bit for Tony Eury Jr. (Nationwide Series crew chief) and I to get a setup that worked for me on the road courses. My first trip to Montreal was very different than my second trip. It’s going to take a little bit of time, but it is a little bit of a comfort zone for me. I feel like I know what I’m doing and I feel comfortable. Stock-car drivers just don’t get a lot of time on road courses and I’ve spent my whole career doing it, for the most part. It’s nice to go to a place where I feel comfortable, I suppose.”

You tested at Virginia International Raceway a couple of weeks ago. Talk about that test.

“It was a productive day. It wasn’t so much about setting up the car for Sonoma because, obviously, the tracks are completely different. It was more about getting a good brake package and making sure I’m comfortable in the car. It’s my first road-course race with Stewart-Haas and my first time working one with Tony Gibson (crew chief), so it was just about making sure everything is smooth. There is so much that goes into a road-course race – shifting, braking, mirrors, the seat – you just want to make sure you’re as comfortable as possible so you don’t have to work on those things too much once you get to the track.”

You competed at Sonoma in an IndyCar. Will that help you at all in a stock car?

“Other than being familiar with the garage and pit lane, no (laughs). The cars are obviously so different that nothing will translate. It’s just such a different style of driving. This also is a slightly different course than what we ran in IndyCar, so nothing really translates. I’m excited to go out to Sonoma, though. I’ve always liked it out there and, hopefully, we can have a great weekend.”

Continue reading »]]> KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Sonoma, Calif., is a vigorous grape-producing countryside at the center of the state’s robust wine industry, considered by many to be the birthplace of wine-making in the Golden State. Together with neighboring Napa, Calif., they produce what is widely regarded as some of the world’s finest wines. Playing no small part in placing Northern California in its esteemed place in the field of wine production was the 1976 Paris Wine Tasting, better known as the Judgment of Paris.

The Judgment of Paris was a blind wine tasting that pitted California’s best offerings against French wines, recognized by most of the world as untouchable, at least at the time. It wasn’t supposed to be a contest at all. California’s burgeoning wine makers were not supposed to be able to hold a candle to the superlative works of France’s finest, but those supercilious opinions couldn’t hold up in the field of play as California wines took first place in both red and white categories, laying the groundwork for the thriving industry that exists today.

Thirteen years after earning its place among wine-producing appellations, Sonoma was on the map yet again due to another competitive event. It was believed to be one more mismatch as it paired two worlds that could not have been more different – NASCAR and wine country. There was no panel of judges, and participants were in clear view when Sonoma Raceway hosted the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the first time on June 11, 1989. While on paper the two appeared to be an odd coupling, wine country and NASCAR have combined for some incredible shows during the last 25 years.

Enjoying the fruits of that successful match on more than one occasion has been none other than Tony Stewart, a two-time Sprint Cup winner at Sonoma who enters Sunday’s Toyota/SaveMart 350k 10^th in the championship point standings thanks to a four-race stretch that has seen him finish seventh, first, fourth and fifth.

The driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing has played a significant role in many of Sonoma’s exciting races. His name appears often in the track’s history books, and in the new-age history that is NASCAR’s loop data, Stewart ranks first or second in a number of statistical categories for the 1.99-mile road course.

Stewart has made 14 Sprint Cup starts at Sonoma, where in addition to his two wins (2001 and 2005) he has a pole (2002), three second-place finishes, five top-fives and nine top-10s. He has an average finish of 10.9 and has only failed to finish on the lead lap one time – the track’s 2011 race where the Indiana native ended up on the wrong end of a run-in with driver Brian Vickers with less than 25 laps to go. Stewart went from scoring a top-five finish to a career-worst road-course finish of 39^th.

While Stewart’s traditional stats speak for themselves, an overview of his position in several loop data categories reinforces the fact that at the end of the day, Stewart’s road-course attributes make him a Road Scholar.

The three-time Sprint Cup champion leads all drivers in the categories of fastest drivers early in a run (90.375 mph), fastest laps run (79), green-flag speed (89.877 mph), laps in the top-15 (706) and speed in traffic (88.945 mph). He ranks second in average running position (9.983) and fastest drivers late in a run (89.437 mph) for an overall driver rating of 107.5 – a close second to Kurt Busch with the best overall driver rating of 107.8.

And Stewart’s road course success isn’t limited to the track in Northern California, as there is a second road course in Watkins Glen, N.Y., which plays host to the Sprint Cup Series in early August. Of Stewart’s 48 career Sprint Cup victories, seven have been won on road courses – two at Sonoma and five at Watkins Glen. While wins are what everyone remembers, the rest of Stewart’s road-course stats are remarkable on their own merit. Between Sonoma and Watkins Glen, Stewart has made 28 career starts in which he has 12 top-fives, 19 top-10s and has led a total of 307 laps to go with his seven wins.

Through the last 25 years Sonoma has earned its place in the annals of NASCAR history, serving as a true test of driver versatility. Stewart is the epitome of versatility, having won in nearly everything, from stock cars and Indy cars to dirt modifieds and open-wheel Sprint, Midget and Silver Crown cars. Just as Stewart has proven victorious on pavement and dirt, he’s proven to be a winner when a racetrack features left and right turns. In his 15^th trip to the 10-turn Sonoma road course, Stewart intends to come out on top in the Judgment of Sonoma.

TONY STEWART, Driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

This year marks Sonoma Raceway’s 25^th anniversary. How important is it that NASCAR has raced in Sonoma all this time?

“It’s got deep roots with NASCAR and it’s one of those tracks that you just can’t imagine not being on the schedule. I think all the drivers and teams think of it that way. It’s a huge weekend. Teams really work hard on their road-course programs because of how challenging and difficult it is, and we have a partner in Mobil 1 who can attest to that. Their engine oil, chassis lubricants, gear oil – even their power steering fluid – help us shave time off our laps by reducing friction, heat and rolling resistance. They look at a lot of little things and it adds up to a big difference.

“I don’t think any of your full-time teams look at Sonoma as a weekend you have to get through to get on to the next thing. We’re at a point where teams put a lot of emphasis on the program. So for it to have a 25-year history like this, to see how much the competition has grown and how teams put way more work into it than they did say 10 or 20 years ago is pretty big. The track has really established itself as a unique race but, at the same time, it’s one that’s on the schedule that is circled and we look forward to racing.”

In those 25 years, is there a certain moment that is most memorable to you?

“You know, there isn’t really one. Every time you go there, it’s fun. It’s a fun track, great area and it’s really a perfect place to go and enjoy a NASCAR weekend. It’s an unconventional NASCAR weekend because it is a road course, but it’s one of the races I truly look forward to every year. It’s nice to get out of the box of what we do weekly, and Sonoma is an awesome, awesome racetrack that has a lot of history. It’s very challenging and that’s why drivers like it.”

You’ve had a tremendous amount of success at Sonoma. Why?

“I just like the road courses. I’ve always liked Sonoma. It’s really a driver’s track. It’s tough to make your car drive perfect all day. You can have a really good car, but it’s going to slide around and you’re going to struggle for grip, and that’s what makes it so fun. You have to do the work behind the steering wheel.”

What does it take to win at Sonoma?

“You’ve just got to have a good handling car. Aerodynamics are not the least bit important at Sonoma, which is great because it’s one of the few tracks that we go to that we don’t have to worry about aero balance or anything like that. It’s just a matter of keeping a well-balanced car all day and having good pit stops and pit strategy and staying out of trouble.

“A lot can happen at Sonoma. You’ve got to be patient all day. You get a lot of cautions there and a lot of guys end up beating and banging on each other. I mean, the cars look like they’ve been to a race at Martinsville (Va.) because it’s a short road course. Save that car for the last 20 laps because that’s the critical time. Do what you have to do to get through the first 90 laps, but those last 20 are the ones when you really have to go, and you need your car to be in one piece to make it happen.”

You have a pair of Sonoma wins. Was the first win more enjoyable than the second?

“Anytime you win your first race at a particular track it’s always a special moment. From day one, Sonoma has been one of those places we’ve really ran well, but we haven’t always had the best finishes there. We’ve been in crashes that have put us out or we’ve tried pit strategies that haven’t worked. For the most part though, at the end of the day, we’ve been one of the top-five guys as far as speed on the racetrack. That’s what makes that place fun. There are some drivers that can’t adapt to it and haven’t learned it. Then there are guys like myself that, from day one, have always really liked it and looked at the challenge of it as something really fun for us.”

Because road-course racing is such a different discipline, how do you approach it?

“I’ve just always liked it. I won a national championship racing go-karts on road courses, so the concept of what it took to win races on road courses wasn’t totally unknown to me, but driving cars with suspension, and definitely driving cars that you had to shift, that’s something that came relatively easy to me, and still comes easy to me as far as knowing how to synchronize the gears without having to use the help of the clutch. Even in the sports cars that I’ve driven with guys who have driven road courses all their life, I’ve gotten out of the car and the crew has torn the gearboxes apart and said that the dog rings in my transmission look better than when those guys are done with a transmission. There’s just something about the shifting side of it that’s been really natural to me, and it’s fun. I like having a different discipline to race on. I like having the opportunity to do something twice a year that we don’t get a shot at doing very often. I take the same amount of pride that someone like Ron Fellows or Scott Pruett does when they come into a road-course race. I take that same pride in running well that they do in these cars. I don’t look at it from the standpoint that it’s a negative weekend. I look at it as a positive, that it’s something we enjoy and I feel like that gives us a leg up on most of the guys we race with at these tracks.”

Continue reading »]]> KANNAPOLIS, N.C.  – “I believe in America because we have great dreams – and because we have the opportunity to make those dreams come true.” – Wendell L. Wilkie (American corporate lawyer and 1940 presidential nominee)

Ryan Newman readily admits that he lives his dream every weekend on the racetrack.

The story goes that when Newman was born in December 1977, his proud papa announced right then and there in the delivery room that his baby boy would be a racecar driver. At the young age of 4, Newman got his first racecar, a Quarter Midget, and began going in circles.

Thanks to a lot of hard work and sacrifices along the way, Newman hasn’t stopped racing. Newman is now in his 12th full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and, Sunday, he will make his 12th career start at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

At Sonoma, Newman will celebrate another American dream that became a reality through hard work and dedication.

His No. 39 Chevrolet SS will pay tribute to the 30th anniversary of Haas Automation – the largest machine tool builder in the western world – with a special paint scheme honoring the company that Gene Haas founded in 1983. Haas is also the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing with three-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart.

The company has always produced top-quality products at affordable prices, and all are built in the USA – in the company’s facility in Oxnard, Calif. – which is something Haas takes great pride in doing.

Haas Automation’s commitment to building an American-made product has also helped keep prices of machine tools down. For example, a machine the company first built 1988 sold then for just less than $50,000. Today, that same machine continues to sell for less than $50,000.

Haas Automation is an American success story, and this weekend, Newman hopes to celebrate his sponsor’s success with some success of his own on the 1.99-mile, 10-turn road course nestled in California’s wine country.

With 16 Sprint Cup Series wins to his credit, Newman would like to add a road-course victory to that tally.

In 11 starts at Sonoma, Newman has two top-five finishes and five top-10s. He has completed all 1,217 laps contested there since his rookie campaign in 2002, and he even scored a runner-up finish in 2006.

With 11 races to go until the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins, Newman sits 18th in points, 28 points out of the Chase. As a team fighting for a spot in this season’s Chase, Newman & Company hopes to not only improve on its recent finishes at the Sonoma road course, but also contend for the win.

There would be no better way to honor all the hard work that made dreams become reality and to kick off Haas Automation’s 30th anniversary celebration than with a victory in the company’s home state.

RYAN NEWMAN, Driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation 30th Anniversary Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing:

This weekend, your car carries a special paint scheme paying tribute to Haas Automation’s 30th anniversary. Talk about that.

“It’s pretty cool that Gene Haas started this company in a garage, and 30 years later it’s still going strong. Haas Automation is the largest machine-tool builder in the western world, and they do it all right there in California. Everything is built in America, and I’m very proud to be associated with a company that has continued to be able to build its products in America and keep prices down. Haas Automation is definitely an American success story, and we need to celebrate that. We’ve never gotten a Haas Automation car in victory lane in the Sprint Cup Series, and I think it would be fitting to get their first Sprint Cup win in this car, especially considering all that Gene and the company have done in racing over the years.”

Do you approach a road-course race differently than other races on the circuit? How is a road-course race different for the driver?

“Not really. Once we get there, we attack it and do our thing like we do any other race weekend. Road-course racing is physically demanding, and mentally, as well. It’s really a lot of fun to hustle the car around the racetrack. It’s definitely challenging, just doing what you can to save fuel on a road course, which is one of the hardest things you can ever do inside a racecar, in my opinion. It’s a big track-position game and, if you qualify well, you have a chance to race well. If you don’t, your challenge will be to make a bunch of passes and race hard all day.”

How do you think the new car will perform on a road course like Sonoma?

“I think it’s safe to say it’s going to be faster. I don’t know if that means we are going to have more passing, or less passing, or what the exact situation is going to be. But faster usually leads to more braking, and more braking usually leads to more heat, and I think it’s definitely going to be a situation where you want to have track position, which is no different than it ever has been at Sonoma. We had a one day test. Us and Danica (Patrick) actually went to VIR (Virginia International Raceway in Alton) to basically knock the rust off the drivers, try a couple of things for the crew chiefs and get the cars ready to make sure everything was good. I feel like, on our side, we’ll be competitive and we’ll see what happens. But the Gen 6 car has proven to be a faster racecar, pretty much at every racetrack we’ve been. Sometimes the weather conditions are not conducive for it, but we are breaking a lot of track records this year.”

It’s the 25th anniversary of road course racing and Sprint Cup racing at Sonoma. What are your earliest memories of the race in Sonoma each year, watching it on TV, or what are some of your earliest memories of the place?

“I guess, as an avid NASCAR fan, watching something that’s so totally different from a racing standpoint than the ovals. I think it’s just, you know, when you’re a fan looking at it, it’s different than being a racecar driver looking at it because a driver, he just drives a racecar. But as a fan, you see the oval side of it and then you go to the road courses and you see – like it’s a totally different kind of – what are these cars doing, these are road race cars, not NASCAR stock cars. It’s just a different perspective of when I was younger than what I have now, is what I’m trying to say.”

What do you think about road-course racing?

“I like road courses. They are difficult to pass on. It seems like there are only a couple of passing zones. I’ve always said, ‘The more corners there are without passing zones, the more opportunities there are to fall behind the guy who’s in front of the guy who’s in front of you.’ Road courses are unique in their own right. I wish we had a third one because I think they are fun. I enjoy hustling the racecar around the track, and Sonoma’s a good road course. Personally, I enjoy Watkins Glen a bit more, but I enjoy them both and I look forward to racing out there. It’s a big track-position race, and fuel mileage has become a big part of the racing there. But it’s the same for everybody. In road-course racing, the driver, in my mind, can make up more than he can at an oval just being able to hustle a car. You have the added mannerism, I guess you could say, of braking. When you brake at short tracks, it’s not the same as when you brake and downshift. So, you have to be a smooth downshifter, you have to be a good braker. Obviously, you have to turn right. There are extra characteristics, I guess, that you have to include at road courses that you don’t have to include at ovals. That separates the men from the boys, typically.”

Continue reading »]]> GRAND FORKS, N.D. – The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series continues its invasion through the Midwest this Friday and Saturday.

Friday night the series heads to five-time champion Donny Schatz’s home state of North Dakota to compete at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks. Saturday night the series returns to Minnesota for its third trip to the Gopher State this season as the drivers take on I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls for the first time in series history.

Daryn Pittman still has a stronghold on the championship lead with a 137-point lead over Schatz. Schatz used a sweep of last weekend’s events to gain a small lead over third place sitting Paul McMahan.

• Friday, June 21, at River Cities Speedway.  · River Cities Speedway is located in Grand Forks, N.D. Travel 1.6 miles east of I-29 (exit 141) on US 2 (at the Greater Grand Forks Fairgrounds) Click on the link for a map (http://goo.gl/maps/iB0WE)
• Saturday, June 22, at I-94 Raceway, pit gates open at 3 P.M. I-94 Raceway is located in Fergus Falls, Minn. Click on the link for a map (http://goo.gl/maps/FAla2)

Continue reading »]]> GRAND FORKS, N.D. – North Dakota native Donny Schatz is planning on giving River Cities Speedway spectators a rare treat this Friday when the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series makes its first of two visits this season.

In addition to competing for his third consecutive Outlaws victory, Schatz, who resides approximately an hour away in Fargo, will race with the NLRA late models during the Gerdau 1st Leg of the Northern Tour.

“Running the dirt late model has been a lot of fun and it’s just something to remind me of what it’s like to race for fun,” Schatz said. “It’s been a big learning curve and I know it’s going to be tough up there. I’m just learning as much as I can every time I get into the car.”

As for the sprint cars, Schatz has those figured out. Last weekend he swept the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series events at Jackson Speedway in Jackson, Minn., and at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa, and he currently leads the series with seven feature victories.

However, it has been a few years since he has recorded a win at one of the tracks where he cut his teeth. Schatz was victorious in 2008 and in 2009, and has come close in almost every race since.

“We’ve had some good runs up there, but it’s been a few years since we’ve won one,” he said. “There are so many great fans that support the racing in Grand Forks and we’re going to do everything we can to win that World of Outlaws feature.”

He maneuvered from 11th to fourth in the first appearance at the 3/10-mile oval last season and finished a close second in the final visit. In fact, in the 11 World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series main events at River Cities Speedway, his worst result is seventh and in the last five races, Schatz has garnered three runner-up finishes.

“It’s been exciting since the day I started,” he said. “There’s always been a lot of action.”

Continue reading »]]> Ryan Newman and the No. 39 Quicken Loans team looked like they were on their way to “bringing home” a solid finish in the Quicken Loans 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, but their luck ran out before the checkered flag. With less than 30 laps to go, a flat tire halted Newman’s forward progress and resulted in an 18th-place finish.

The tire issue came under the final caution of the race at lap 166. Newman pitted for right-side tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment to tighten the handling of his Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS. Thanks to quick pit work and the team’s strategy, Newman gained 10 spots on pit road and was set to restart the race in seventh place.

But that plan was thwarted when Newman radioed that his left-rear tire was going flat. While still under caution, teammate Tony Stewart, who was beside Newman on the track, was able to look at the tire and told the crew the tire was definitely going flat and Newman needed to pit.

Still under the lengthy caution period, Newman was able to bring his car back down pit road to his crew, where it changed left-side tires and got him back on track before the race restarted. Upon examination, the crew confirmed that Newman’s tire had been punctured.

But Newman fell from seventh to 25th in the running order. And with track position crucial at Michigan, Newman couldn’t regain all the places lost due to the flat tire. He made up seven spots in the closing laps and finished 18th.

“That was a tough break for our Quicken Loans team,” Newman said. “When we came out seventh after that pit stop, and we finally had some track position and the clean air that we needed, I really thought that we were going to ‘Bring It Home’ for Quicken Loans and get another top-five finish and pay five people’s mortgages for a month. I really wanted to have a strong run for Quicken Loans in their race, in their backyard, so I’m pretty disappointed right now.”

Stewart led the way for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) by finishing fifth. Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, scored his 12th top-five in 29 career Sprint Cup starts at the 2-mile oval. It was also his third top-five this season.

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 13th to score her third top-15 finish of the season.

Greg Biffle won the Quicken Loans 400 to score his 19th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his fourth at Michigan.

Kevin Harvick finished 2.989 seconds behind Biffle in the runner-up spot, while Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Stewart rounded out the top-five. Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Jeff Burton comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were eight caution periods for 38 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish the 200-lap race.

With round 15 of 36 complete, Stewart continues to lead the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He moved up three spots to 10th and has 417 points, 121 back of series leader Jimmie Johnson and two points ahead of 11th-place Paul Menard. Newman maintained his 18th-place standing and has 389 points, 149 out of first and 28 behind Stewart. Patrick picked up one spot to 27th place in the standings and has 277 points, 261 behind Johnson and 140 away from Stewart.

Eleven races remain before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase. Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11th and 20th in points with the most wins. If multiple drivers have the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished three spots ahead of Stenhouse, who placed 16th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Toyota/Save Mart 350k on Sunday, June 23 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT, with live coverage of the road-course event provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at 2 p.m.

Continue reading »]]> Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. But Tony Stewart was a little bit of both Sunday afternoon at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, where he earned a hard-fought fifth-place finish in the Quicken Loans 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Driving a backup car, Stewart started 14th and overcame a weekend full of handling issues in the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) to score his 12th top-five in 29 career Sprint Cup starts at the 2-mile oval.

“I think we definitely got a lot of luck there at the end, but we’ll definitely take it because we haven’t had much to this point in the year,” said Stewart, the 2000 winner of the June race at Michigan. “A caution came out at the right time, and we got a good restart. Two of the guys ahead of us – one had fuel trouble and one had a tire issue – so we got some breaks going our way today. It was a good weekend for me (after) putting us in a hole as far as I did on Friday crashing our primary car. But I’m proud of these guys, and I’m definitely proud of the effort this week. I thought our guys did a good job.”

Stewart was forced to the backup car after wrecking during the opening minutes of Friday’s lone practice session. The No. 14 team spent the rest of the weekend massaging the handling on the Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevy. The effort paid off as Stewart raced his way into the top-10 in the opening laps of the 400-mile race Sunday, climbing to seventh-place by lap 15.

Despite the forward progress, the handling on the No. 14 Chevy wasn’t quite right as Stewart kept reporting the car felt “down in the left rear.” Further complicating the situation was a tight-handling condition in the center of the turns that persisted regardless of adjustments. But three-time Sprint Cup champion Stewart dug in and never ran lower than 15th throughout the race.

Green-flag pit stops had started taking place when the last caution of the race was displayed on lap 166 for an incident that involved Jamie McMurray pounding the outside retaining wall. Stewart was one of a handful of drivers who had yet to make their stop, placing the No. 14 Chevrolet in seventh-place for what would be the final trip down pit road. Quick pit work placed Stewart in fourth for the final restart. Although he lost a few positions when green-flag racing resumed, Stewart was the benefactor of some misfortune that befell a few of his peers in the closing laps. The result was a fifth-place finish, giving the driver/owner his third straight top-five in Sprint Cup competition.

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 13th to score her third top-15 finish of the season.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet for SHR, finished 18th.

Greg Biffle won the Quicken Loans 400 to score his 19th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his fourth at Michigan.

Kevin Harvick finished 2.989 seconds behind Biffle the runner-up spot, while Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Stewart rounded out the top-five. Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Jeff Burton comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were eight caution periods for 38 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish the 200-lap race.

With round 15 of 36 complete, Stewart continues to lead the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He moved up three spots to 10th and has 417 points, 121 back of series leader Jimmie Johnson and two points ahead of 11th-place Paul Menard. Newman maintained his 18th-place standing and has 389 points, 149 out of first and 28 behind Stewart. Patrick picked up one spot to 27th in the standings and has 277 points, 261 points behind Johnson and 140 away from Stewart.

Eleven races remain before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase. Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11th and 20th in points with the most wins. If multiple drivers have the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished three spots ahead of Stenhouse, who placed 16th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Toyota/Save Mart 350k on Sunday, June 23 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT, with live coverage of the road-course event provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at 2 p.m.

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Danica Patrick drove a smooth, clean race and finished a respectable 13th in the Quicken Loans 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event Sunday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.

Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), scored her third top-15 finish of 2013. She finished eighth in February in the season-opening Daytona 500 and 12th in April at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

“I think we caught some breaks out there,” Patrick said. “Yellows definitely helped us be able to get track position as far as closing up the gaps and being able to pit a few times. We tried to take right side (tires) and get track position early on. It just didn’t go well, and we just hadn’t gotten ourselves to a good place with the car that I could carry the speed that I needed to run with the (pack). It didn’t work out so well.

“We worked on it and got it better. At the end of the race, the last run was the best run I felt as far as the balance of the car, which I was surprised because we had fallen off a little bit at the end of the run before. We had only taken right-side tires again for a second time. It’s nice to just get a decent finish for the team and for GoDaddy. It’s been rough going since Martinsville. This will hopefully get everyone’s head up a little bit, and we will go on. I think we have been strong lately. We just needed to have days like today where we finished it off.”

Crew chief Tony Gibson was pleased with Patrick’s first Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan.

“We had a really good car all day,” Gibson said. “She did a really nice job. We were a little loose to start, but once we got that fixed, we were definitely a top-15, top-20 car. We tried to stay on the same track position as all the other leaders and make sure we didn’t get ourselves in a bad position. And then we let her do the rest. It was a good day for us. She drove hard. Johnny (Klausmeier, race engineer) and all the guys did a great job with the fuel. It all worked out. It was good team work today. I’m proud of Danica and everybody on the GoDaddy Chevy. It’s a good weekend to build on to head to Sonoma.”

Patrick’s teammate Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, finished fifth to score his 12th top-five in 29 career Sprint Cup starts at the 2-mile oval. It was also his third top-five this season.

The third member of SHR, Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet for SHR, finished 18th.

Greg Biffle won the Quicken Loans 400 to score his 19th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his fourth at Michigan.

Kevin Harvick finished 2.989 seconds behind Biffle in the runner-up spot, while Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Stewart rounded out the top-five. Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Jeff Burton comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were eight caution periods for 38 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish the 200-lap race.

With round 15 of 36 complete, Stewart continues to lead the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He moved up three spots to 10th and has 417 points, 121 back of series leader Jimmie Johnson and two points ahead of 11th-place Paul Menard. Newman maintained his 18th-place standing and has 389 points, 149 out of first and 28 behind Stewart. Patrick picked up one spot to 27th-place in the standings and has 277 points, 261 behind Johnson and 140 away from Stewart.

Eleven races remain before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase. Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11th and 20th in points with the most wins. If multiple drivers have the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished three spots ahead of Stenhouse, who placed 16th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Toyota/Save Mart 350k on Sunday, June 23 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT, with live coverage of the road-course event provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at 2 p.m.

Continue reading »]]> Tony Stewart led the way for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) Sunday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn by finishing fifth in the Quicken Loans 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, scored his 12th top-five in 29 career Sprint Cup starts at the 2-mile oval. It was also his third top-five this season.

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 13th to score her third top-15 finish of the season.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet for SHR, finished 18th.

Greg Biffle won the Quicken Loans 400 to score his 19th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his fourth at Michigan.

Kevin Harvick finished 2.989 seconds behind Biffle in the runner-up spot, while Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Stewart rounded out the top-five. Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Jeff Burton comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were eight caution periods for 38 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish the 200-lap race.

With round 15 of 36 complete, Stewart continues to lead the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He moved up three spots to 10th and has 417 points, 121 back of series leader Jimmie Johnson and two points ahead of 11th-place Paul Menard. Newman maintained his 18th-place standing and has 389 points, 149 out of first and 28 behind Stewart. Patrick picked up one spot to 27th-place in the standings and has 277 points, 261 behind Johnson and 140 away from Stewart.

Eleven races remain before the 12-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase. Positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11th and 20th in points with the most wins. If multiple drivers have the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished three spots ahead of Stenhouse, who placed 16th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Toyota/Save Mart 350k on Sunday, June 23 at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT, with live coverage of the road-course event provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at 2 p.m.

Continue reading »]]> KNOXVILLE , Iowa – Donny Schatz swept the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series weekend by capitalizing on leader Brian Brown’s slip Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway.

Schatz, the five-time and defending series champion who won on Friday night at Jackson Speedway, was running second mid-way through Saturday night’s 30-lap Mediacom Shootout when Brown tried to get through lapped traffic. Brown bounced his car off the wall, damaging the front suspension and nearly stalling it, but he was able to keep the car going without bringing out a caution.

Schatz charged ahead into the lead in his STP/Armor All J&J and drove off to victory, becoming the second driver in the past two weeks to sweep the weekend events after Craig Dollansky accomplished the feat last weekend.

“We’re just doing our job right now, we’re having fun and that’s important and we’re making changes for the better,” said Schatz, of Fargo, N.D. “I’m glad to be heading near home next weekend and running good, that’s always good because we would like to get a win at home, that’s for sure.”

Even with a few restarts, Brown would neither gain nor lose much ground to Schatz, but would still settle for second in the Casey’s General Stores/FVP Maxim. Brown has finished second or third to Schatz in each of the past three World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series races at Knoxville, including last year’s Knoxville Nationals.

“We got in there behind those lapped cars and they were racing hard for position and I just got tight,” said Brown, of Grain Valley, Mo. “I couldn’t get it off the cushion and got into the fence and nearly crashed. It bent the front axle back. It sounds familiar, wins the heat, wins the dash, leads the feature and runs second. I think we’re closing on him. I don’t think Donny was as good as he was last time here, or that we got better.”

Late in the race Paul McMahan would return to his starting spot of third, but the podium position did not come easily. Bronson Maeschen, the fast qualifier for the event, held the position for much of the race. Maeschen held off charges by fellow Knoxville regular Ian Madsen and World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship contender McMahan. Just before the mid-race point Maeschen’s motor was audibly hurt, but he still held the spot over Madsen and McMahan.

As the race went on, McMahan made the top of the track work in his CJB Motorsports GF1 and he would capture the position and hold on to the spot.

“The top kind of went away and I was super tight from the center out, the thing would stand up on the left rear,” said McMahan, of Nashville, Tenn. “When it did finally clean off I was actually able to get the car down and drive off half-way decent. I had my hands full there for the 25 laps, but it was a good run for us tonight.”

Maeschen’s motor let go with just one lap to go and he was forced to pull off, finishing a disappointing 17 after starting the event so strong. Ian Madsen finished fourth while championship leader, Daryn Pittman, who started 12th, moved up seven spots to round out the top five.

Tim Kaeding was able to finish 8^th after starting a dismal 21^st in the feature event and earn the event’s KSE Hard Charger honors.

Schatz and McMahan are still nearly deadlocked in the championship standings after both drivers picked up podium finishes Saturday. Schatz trails Pittman by 137 points, while McMahan trails Schatz by just four points.

The World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series is back on track next weekend. First the series heads to Grand Forks, N.D., to race at River Cities Speedway on Friday night. On Saturday the series heads back to Minnesota to race at I-94 Speedway in Fergus Falls, Minn.

World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway; June 15, 2013

A-Main – (25 Laps): 1. 15-Donny Schatz [2] [$10,000]; 2. 21-Brian Brown [1] [$5,500]; 3. 51-Paul McMahan [3] [$3,200]; 4. 18-Ian Madsen [5] [$2,800]; 5. 9-Daryn Pittman [12] [$2,500]; 6. 33-Danny Lasoski [18] [$2,300]; 7. 6-David Gravel [11] [$2,200]; 8. 83-Tim Kaeding [21] [$2,100]; 9. 7-Craig Dollansky [13] [$2,050]; 10. 1-Sammy Swindell [15] [$2,000]; 11. 29-Kerry Madsen [14] [$1,500]; 12. 7S-Jason Sides [10] [$1,200]; 13. 63-Chad Kemenah [16] [$1,100]; 14. 11-Steve Kinser [8] [$1,050]; 15. 71M-Joey Saldana [7] [$1,000]; 16. 56-David Heskin [6] [$900]; 17. 96-Bronson Maeschen [4] [$800]; 18. 55-Brooke Tatnell [23] [$800]; 19. 82-Jason Solwold [19] [$800]; 20. 91-Dusty Zomer [26] [$]; 21. 11K-Kraig Kinser [20] [$800]; 22. 47-Don Droud Jr [24] [$800]; 23. 4-Cody Darrah [25] [$]; 24. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr [9] [$800]; 25. 12-Lynton Jeffrey [17] [$800]; 26. 13-Mark Dobmeier [22] [$800].Lap Leaders: Donny Schatz 1, 15-30; Brian Brown 2-14. KSE Hard Charger Award: 83-Tim Kaeding [+13]

Qualifying: 1. 96-Bronson Maeschen, 15.018; 2. 56-David Heskin, 15.127; 3. 6-David Gravel, 15.172; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman, 15.191; 5. 7-Craig Dollansky, 15.212; 6. 29-Kerry Madsen, 15.260; 7. 18-Ian Madsen, 15.290; 8. 1-Sammy Swindell, 15.298; 9. 51-Paul McMahan, 15.318; 10. 15-Donny Schatz, 15.332; 11. 21-Brian Brown, 15.357; 12. 71M-Joey Saldana, 15.373; 13. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 15.412; 14. 11-Steve Kinser, 15.418; 15. 24-Terry McCarl, 15.466; 16. 7S-Jason Sides, 15.467; 17. 91-Dusty Zomer, 15.481; 18. 63-Chad Kemenah, 15.603; 19. 12-Lynton Jeffrey, 15.620; 20. 33-Danny Lasoski, 15.650; 21. 82-Jason Solwold, 15.651; 22. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 15.664; 23. 83-Tim Kaeding, 15.734; 24. 13-Mark Dobmeier, 15.750; 25. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips, 15.751; 26. 23K-Rob Kubli, 15.772; 27. 55-Brooke Tatnell, 15.781; 28. 2-Garrett Dollansky, 15.785; 29. 4-Cody Darrah, 15.798; 30. 49-Josh Schneiderman, 15.818; 31. 17A-Austin McCarl, 15.872; 32. 10-Rager Phillips, 15.888; 33. 77X-Wayne Johnson, 15.901; 34. 6RX-Ryan Bunton, 16.102; 35. 20-A.J. Moeller, 16.113; 36. 47-Don Droud Jr, 16.345; 37. 16-Dustin Clark, 16.486; 38. 10V-Glen Saville, 16.578; 39. 71X-Robert Bell, 17.399; 40. 69-Mike Moore, 17.423; 41. 12P-T.J. Peterson, nt; 42. 7K-Dustin Selvage, nt

Heat 1 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 51-Paul McMahan [2]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr [1]; 3. 7-Craig Dollansky [3]; 4. 96-Bronson Maeschen [4]; 5. 82-Jason Solwold [6]; 6. 91-Dusty Zomer [5]; 7. 4-Cody Darrah [8]; 8. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips [7]; 9. 16-Dustin Clark [10]; 10. 77X-Wayne Johnson [9]

Heat 2 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 11-Steve Kinser [1]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen [3]; 4. 56-David Heskin [4]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6]; 6. 49-Josh Schneiderman [8]; 7. 6RX-Ryan Bunton [9]; 8. 23K-Rob Kubli [7]; 9. 63-Chad Kemenah [5]; 10. 10V-Glen Saville [10]

Heat 3 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 21-Brian Brown [2]; 2. 18-Ian Madsen [3]; 3. 6-David Gravel [4]; 4. 83-Tim Kaeding [6]; 5. 55-Brooke Tatnell [7]; 6. 12-Lynton Jeffrey [5]; 7. 17A-Austin McCarl [8]; 8. 24-Terry McCarl [1]; 9. 71X-Robert Bell [10]; 10. 20-A.J. Moeller [9].

Heat 4 – (8 Laps – Top 5 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 7S-Jason Sides [1]; 2. 71M-Joey Saldana [2]; 3. 9-Daryn Pittman [4]; 4. 13-Mark Dobmeier [6]; 5. 1-Sammy Swindell [3]; 6. 33-Danny Lasoski [5]; 7. 47-Don Droud Jr [9]; 8. 69-Mike Moore [10]; 9. 10-Rager Phillips [8]; 10. 2-Garrett Dollansky [7].

Dash – (6 Laps, finishing order determined first 10 starting positions of A-feature): 1. 21-Brian Brown [1]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 3. 51-Paul McMahan [3]; 4. 96-Bronson Maeschen [6]; 5. 18-Ian Madsen [4]; 6. 56-David Heskin [5]; 7. 71M-Joey Saldana [7]; 8. 11-Steve Kinser [9]; 9. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr [8]; 10. 7S-Jason Sides [10].

B-Main – (12 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature): 1. 33-Danny Lasoski [5] [-]; 2. 63-Chad Kemenah [3] [-]; 3. 47-Don Droud Jr [15] [-]; 4. 12-Lynton Jeffrey [4] [-]; 5. 4-Cody Darrah [9] [$200]; 6. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips [6] [$180]; 7. 77X-Wayne Johnson [13] [$175]; 8. 10-Rager Phillips [12] [$160]; 9. 69-Mike Moore [19] [$150]; 10. 6RX-Ryan Bunton [14] [$150]; 11. 23K-Rob Kubli [7] [$150]; 12. 2-Garrett Dollansky [8] [$150]; 13. 16-Dustin Clark [16] [$150]; 14. 71X-Robert Bell [18] [$150]; 15. 91-Dusty Zomer [2] [$150]; 16. 49-Josh Schneiderman [10] [$150]; 17. 10V-Glen Saville [17] [$150]; 18. 24-Terry McCarl [1] [$150]; 19. 17A-Austin McCarl [11] [$150]; 20. 12P-T.J. Peterson [20] [$150]; 21. 7K-Dustin Selvage [21] [$150]; 22. 20-A.J. Moeller [22] [$150].