Chad Hackenbracht, who made a name for himself in the ARCA Racing Series, is set to make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) debut for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) behind the wheel of the No. 51 Tastee Apple/Ingersoll Rand Toyota Tundra in this weekend's WinStar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) in Fort Worth. This weekend's Truck Series stand-alone race will be the first of four Truck Series events for the 21-year-old New Philadelphia, OH. Native, which also include: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (Aug. 3), Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Canada (Sept. 1) and Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway (Sept. 28).

Across 47 ARCA Racing Series starts since 2010, Hackenbracht has amassed 1 win (Pocono, 2012), 2 pole awards, 8 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes while leading 230 laps. The young driver finished eighth and fifth, respectively, in the year-end championship point standings in 2011 and 2012.

"This is a huge opportunity for me, almost a one in a lifetime kind of thing," said Hackenbracht. "To be a small part of Kyle Busch Motorsports and their quest to win an owner's championship is a big step in my career. It's not only a shot for me to showcase my talent and what I'm capable of doing; it's an opportunity to be a part of something even bigger than me."

"It means a ton for me to run for Kyle both as an owner and a teammate," Hackenbracht continued. "I just met him last week and already he has been an open book and I'm confident that he will be a great teacher of these trucks and the tracks that I have minimal to no experience at. Kyle is a driver I've always looked up to and respected and this is a dream come true that I will not only be driving for him but sharing a truck with him as well."

As a veteran of quarter midgets and Legends Cars, including the 2008 National Asphalt Legends championship, Hackenbracht has been leaving his mark as he takes the necessary steps to prepare to climb the ladder into the NASCAR ranks. After spending the last two seasons competing full-time in the ARCA Racing Series, the first-generation driver feels he is ready to take the next step in his career by making his NASCAR debut for KBM.

"I feel like everything I have done up to this point in my racing career has given me the knowledge and technique I need to be successful in this next step of my career in the Truck Series," Hackenbracht said. "I have had the opportunity through ARCA to run at some of these NASCAR sanctioned tracks like Texas and Pocono. Mossport will be new for everyone in the Truck Series, but I have road course racing experience and actually got my first ARCA pole at New Jersey Motorsports Park in 2012. Of course there will be pressure with the success that the 51 has had this year, but all I can do is go out there and do my best, that's all anyone can expect."

Hackenbracht enters this weekend's NCWTS event at TMS with big boots to fill. After back-to-back wins by owner-driver Kyle Busch, the No. 51 Toyota Tundra is up to second in the 2013 NCWTS owner point standings. In six starts this season Busch and rookie driver, Erik Jones have accumulated three top-five and five top-10 finishes including 153 laps led.

"Everyone wants to win, that's what we are here for," said Hackenbracht. "However, with this being my debut not only in the trucks, but in NASCAR, I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself. I just want to go out there and do the best that I can. This is good equipment and everyone knows that it's capable of running up front and winning. My goals are mainly to complete all the laps, gain knowledge and have solid finishes. These four races are going to be building blocks to my future and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I plan to come in and be a sponge - soak up all the knowledge I can."

Live television coverage of the WinStar World Casino 400 from Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth will air on SPEED at 9 p.m. ET.

Follow Chad Hackenbracht on Twitter, @HockenSomethin

KBM PR

Kenny Wallace will be back at Iowa Speedway this summer. Only this time, the 49-year-old veteran driver from St. Louis will be behind the wheel. U.S. Cellular will sponsor Wallace’s car during the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ DuPont Pioneer 250 Saturday and U.S. Cellular 250 Aug. 3 in Newton.

“In an effort to show our continued support for the U.S. Cellular 250, we decided to steer our involvement with Kenny to the race track,” said Kathy Hust, Mid-Central Region Vice President for U.S. Cellular. “We look forward to seeing his No. 29 car with U.S. Cellular logos zoom around Iowa Speedway’s track.”

Wallace has earned $11,332,891 during his 23-year Nationwide Series career. Wallace is a nine-time winner and three-time most popular driver in the Nationwide Series. Wallace, who has made the most starts in Nationwide Series history, finished seventh and sixth during his last two Iowa Speedway appearances in 2011.

Wallace did not race during last year’s U.S. Cellular 250 because he did not have a sponsor. This sponsorship with U.S. Cellular will help Wallace inch toward a milestone.

“I really want to get nine races in this year because that would give me 900 NASCAR starts, so that’s my major goal,” Wallace said. “I am excited. I really appreciate U.S. Cellular’s sponsorship during these two Iowa Speedway races. I also look forward to meeting more race fans when I am in Iowa this summer.”

This week, Wallace will sign autographs at Iowa Speedway in the U.S. Cellular Loyalty Lounge from 1 to 2 p.m. Friday and 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday.

U.S. Cellular will kickoff summer in Iowa with a free event July 31 hosted by Wallace that will be open to the public. U.S. Cellular also will give consumers a VIP experience during the U.S. Cellular 250 and Iowa State Fair with exciting surprises. The company will release additional details on the July 31 event in the coming weeks.

Iowa Speedway PR

Alex Bowman came into the Dover International Speedway with high hopes already having one Nationwide Series start at the track called "The Monster Mile" but wasn't able to get the finish the team had hoped for.

The weekend started off great with the No. 99 RAB Racing St. Jude Children's Research Hospital/SchoolTipline.com Toyota Camry setting the second fastest lap in the only practice session. That raw speed saw Bowman and the team qualify in the fourth position for the 5-hour Energy 200. Bowman raced in the top 10 all day long, but a loose race car, and a few on track mishaps relegated the team back to a 17th place finish.

Alex Bowman: "Well this isn't the day I thought we were going to have at all. My crew chief Chris Rice found us a lot of speed on Friday in practice, and also for qualifying, but when we had a long green flag run we were just too loose to stay in the lead pack. It's unfortunate because here's another example of having a good car, but not getting the finish where we were running for most of the day. With about 80 laps to go we got the track position we were looking for by taking two tires, and were in the top 10 until I received contact on multiple occasions. Each time it happened I lost 3-4 spots and just put us in a bad position where we couldn't get it back. I hate it for my guys, but on the bright side we have a car in one piece with barely a mark on it, which means we can continue to work on it and make it better."

Chris Rice: "What a day we had but at the end of it I'm really proud of our RAB Racing team, and our driver Alex Bowman. The entire race was based on track position because everyone in top 15 ran the same lap times as soon as there was about 10 laps on the tires, which made it extremely difficult to pass another car. This also meant that anytime a mistake was made, or Alex got hit and had to chase the car up the race track, he lost a bunch of positions and time that it was almost impossible to get it back. I can say that I'm very thankful of the job Alex did in saving a loose race car, and getting knocked around to bring that car home with no damage. It may not be the finish we were looking for, but we can now take that car, learn from it, and make it better and faster next time we use it instead of repairing it."

The 17th place finish has moved Bowman to the 11th position in drivers points standings and Robby Benton to 15th place in owner's points. The next race is the Pioneer Hi-Bred 250 at the Iowa Speedway on Saturday June 8th, which will be televised live on ESPN.

RAB Racing PR

Matt Crafton's adventuresome, but consistently out-front NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season continued Friday at Dover International Speedway with a second-place finish to Kyle Busch in the Lucas Oil 200.

Crafton's sixth top-10 finish this season in as many Truck Series races for his No. 88 Goof Off / Menards Toyota fielded by ThorSport Racing enabled him to open a 30-point lead in the championship over Jed Burton -- but that was far from Crafton's mind Friday.

"I'm not even thinking about the championship until later on -- way later in the season," Crafton said firmly. "We've just got to keep on doing what we've been doing, contending to win races and the points will come. You can't sit there and points race six races into the season, that's crazy.

"At the end of the day you'll look at it and say 'we had a good day,' but te last thing you're going to do is get too excited about where things are sitting right now. We're just going to go out there and try to win some more races..."

Crafton's team did a great job of that Friday. His truck wasn't good in practice Thursday but he qualified seventh, and sharp work by his ThorSport crew, including beating Busch out of the service alley by a nose on the critical final stop, was key.

"It was a great day for the whole ThorSport organization," Crafton said. "Our Menards Toyota Tundra was decent on the short run. We showed our strength on the long runs, but Kyle just had the speed on the short run.

"All in all, not a terrible day and I can't thank Junior (Joiner, crew chief) and these guys enough. They did it in Kansas (where Crafton won after suffering in practice) and they did it here - they changed everything on our Tundra from practice to the race."

That enabled Crafton to lead and gain a critical bonus point on Burton, who didn't lead.

"At the beginning we fought a little tight late up out of the corner," Crafton said. "I actually left a little bit from our qualifying setup in it because we thought the track was going to go that free and it didn't go quite as free as we thought it was.

"We made very small changes because usually this track, as the race moves on, it makes you more free. We were making two-tenths of a pound of air pressure changes to it and on that second to last run, we finally got it better, but we started off on that run on the splitter and once we got off the splitter, we were really, really loose for about four or five laps and I hated to see the yellow come out.

"I was inching in on (Busch) and I just wanted to be able to have a shot on the long run, I knew he had me on the short run."

Crafton next leads the series to Texas Motor Speedway for a Friday night race.

Thorsport PR

On Wednesday, June 5th, reigning NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion James Buescher, along with his wife Krishtian, will travel to Moore, Oklahoma, to assist with cleanup and rebuilding efforts throughout the community that was hit by devastating tornados last week. In addition to the Bueschers traveling to Oklahoma, Turner Scott Motorsports co-owner Steve Turner is also supporting the cleanup efforts by sending heavy machinery and operators to assist with clearing the rubble that was left behind.

The devastation hits close to home for the Bueschers as James' brother Michael lives in nearby Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Michael was unharmed in the storms that ripped through the area last week.

"I am very fortunate to have the time and ability to go assist the Moore, Oklahoma community in their time of need," said Turner Scott Motorsports driver James Buescher. "Both Kris and I feel like it is the least we can do with the long road to recovery that the people of Oklahoma have ahead of them."

Following his trip to Oklahoma, Buescher will return to his home state of Texas, where he will compete in the Winstar World Casino 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, June 7th.

TSM PR

Victory lane was the last place Tony Stewart expected to end up when he strapped himself into his No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for the FedEx 400 benefitting Autism Speaks NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway.

After all, winning from the 22^nd spot on the starting grid in a racecar with which he’d struggled through practice and qualifying this weekend on a fierce, 1-mile concrete oval at which almost half (47) of the previous 86 Sprint Cup Series winners started no farther back than the front two rows, felt like nothing short of a monster task.

But Stewart, crew chief Steve Addington and the entire Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 pit crew of for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) simply ganged up on the track affectionately known as the “Monster Mile.” Their late-race strategy call put the No. 14 Chevrolet in position to win, and Stewart, the three-time Sprint Cup champion, made a late-race pass and never looked back until he took the checkered flag for his long-awaited first victory of the season.

“If somebody would’ve told me it was going to be that way yesterday, I would’ve told them they were crazy,” said Stewart, who took the lead for the first time on lap 398 of the 400-lap race and led the final three laps en route to scoring his 48^th career victory and his third at Dover. “This thing was not a car that could win the race. Just great pit strategy at the end. We had a car that was solid. We just never got track position to get in clean air. It felt a lot better up front.”

After the determined Stewart moved methodically forward from the 22^nd starting position – breaking into the top-20 by lap 100, the top-15 by lap 200, and on the verge of cracking the top-10 by lap 300 – it was the call for a two-tire stop under caution that propelled the No. 14 all the way up to fourth place for a restart with just 19 laps to go. It took Stewart just four laps to snatch second place behind race leader Juan Pablo Montoya, and Stewart spent the next dozen laps plotting how he was going to get around the former Formula One race winner.

By lap 398, Montoya could hold off Stewart no longer. Stewart slipped past en route to what was, in his mind, a most improbable win.

“Steve Addington made a great call on that last caution and gave us the opportunity to race for it up there,” said Stewart, who continued his streak of winning at least one race per season since joining the Sprint Cup Series in 1999. “It didn’t seem like the guys who took four tires had a huge advantage taking off. When we noticed we were catching (Montoya), we kind of got going on the bottom there and realized we were making up even more time when we could stay right on the bottom. He was smart. He was watching, and he picked up on that and moved down. I couldn’t really make any ground there anymore, so I had to try something. Jeff (Gordon) was coming behind us. I was willing to risk running third to battle for the win. If it didn’t work out and I dropped back a spot, it was worth it. It’s fun. It’s fun when you can battle guys like Juan Montoya and Jeff Gordon like that. Those are two pretty cool names to be racing for the win.”

Stewart’s victory marked just the fifth time in 86 races at Dover that a driver had won from a starting position of 22^nd or worse. Stewart swept both spring and fall events in 2000 and, oddly enough, started the fall race 27^th. He won the spring race from the 19^th starting position. Sunday’s win was Stewart’s 11^th top-five and 16^th top-10 in 29 career Sprint Cup starts at Dover, and it thankfully ended a string of five consecutive finishes of 20^th or worse at what typically had been one of his more successful venues.

“Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve had a good day here,” Stewart said. “Honestly, we tested here, which I thought would be an advantage coming here. And yesterday, we took two steps backward – it didn’t seem like we were much better. But I’m so proud of all of our guys and our engineers. They worked hard late into the night last night and never gave up. They kept working today. Addington’s pit strategy gave us the opportunity there at the end. It’s pretty cool. Everybody at Chevrolet has been helping us and, most of all, Rick Hendrick and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports and the engine department and the chassis department and Doug Duchardt. Just everybody has dug deep to help us to get back to where we are today.”

Most importantly, the victory – just his third top-10 of 2013 – put Stewart and the No. 14 team back on track for a shot at another Sprint Cup title during a season that until Sunday had been nothing short of frustrating.

“It’s been such a tough year,” Stewart said. “And we had, not new partners to us at Stewart-Haas Racing, but new partners on the No. 14 car with Code 3 Associates this week. And with all the tragedies in Oklahoma, to be able to do such an awesome job of getting everybody in Oklahoma back on their feet. They have saved over 150 animals and helped reunite 40 pets with their owners. It’s pretty cool what they do. I couldn’t think of a better week to celebrate what Code 3 Associates does and their hard work. It’s them and Mobil 1 and Bass Pro Shops, Rush Truck Centers, Coca-Cola and Sprint, and, most of all, it’s all of our fans out there. We’ve let them down for a long time. Hopefully today we’ll start building that momentum back up.”

Stewart’s SHR teammate Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS, finished 24^th. It was Patrick’s 23^rd career Sprint Cup start and her second at Dover.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet for SHR, finished 36^th after getting involved in a mid-race accident.

Montoya finished .788 of a second behind Stewart in the runner-up spot, while Gordon, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were seven caution periods for 32 laps, with nine drivers failing to finish the 400-lap race.

With round 13 of 36 complete, Stewart leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He moved up four spots to 16^th and has 338 points, 135 back of series leader Jimmie Johnson and 33 points behind 10^th-place Paul Menard. Newman fell four places to 20^th in the standings and has 323 points, 150 out of first and 48 behind Menard. Patrick picked up one position to climb to 29^th in the standings and has 231 points, 242 behind Johnson and 140 away from Menard.

Thirteen 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 11^th and 20^th 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 11 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 13^th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Party in the Poconos 400 on Sunday, June 9 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at noon.

TSC PR

Max Gresham has a goal to finish in the Top 10 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) standings at the end of the season. Friday's Lucas Oil 200 at the Dover International Speedway was a perfect example Gresham's enduring determination to reach that goal.

Although Gresham finished 28th in the race, his Eddie Sharp Racing (ESR) team made remarkable strides to get as many points as possible for the No. 8 Trimmer Assist Chevrolet Silverado.

"We got wrecked before the first lap was completed, but we came in to make all the repairs necessary, and went back out to get as many points as possible. It was an incredible effort for our No. 8 Trimmer Assist team," the Milner, Georgia, native said. "To get back out on the track and improve our position by eight spots says a lot about our race team.

"It would have been easy to pack up and go home. But that's not what Eddie Sharp Racing is all about."

Gresham started ninth at the Monster Mile in his career-best short track effort, but he tangled with Timothy Peters on the first lap of the race. Gresham's truck sustained significant damage to the rear end in the third turn accident.

"We decided we weren't going home after a first lap accident," crew chief Chris Showalter said. "We knew we had a good truck for the trace. We qualified in the Top 10 so we weren't going to accept a bad finish after the strides we made."

Although it took the Eddie Sharp Racing crew more than 100 laps to make repairs, Gresham eventually returned and was running lap-times equivalent to competitors on the lead lap in the final 50 laps.

"We had to make a lot of repairs to the rear end, but when we came back out we were as fast as everyone else on the track," Gresham said. "Although we're never happy with finishing 28th, we are proud of how we battled back from the first lap. We got as many points as possible. It's not the Top 10 that we expected, but we know we got everything out of Dover that was possible. The incident wasn't our fault, but we sized up our situation and decided not to pack up and go home. It was a defining moment in our season."

Despite the first-lap problems, Gresham is 19th in the truck series standings heading into next Friday's WinStar World Casino 400K at the Texas Motor Speedway.

The past few weeks have seen Casey Mears and his GEICO team perform well in practice only to later fall victim to situations beyond their control when the race got underway. This weekend, Dover welcomed the Germain Racing team with open arms, offering redemption in the form of a 400-mile race on a high-banked racetrack referred to as the Monster Mile. While they have struggled at Dover in the past, a successful test two weeks ago served as assurance that their problems were behind them.

Mears and his #13 GEICO Ford Fusion were 23^rd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ opening practice session on Friday. Qualifying saw the team fall victim to a bad draw, which sent Mears out first on a hot Friday afternoon. Undaunted, Mears quickly pedaled the #13 GEICO Ford around the one-mile concrete oval in just 23.052-seconds at an average speed of 156.169 miles per hour. Despite the steamy temperatures, Mears managed to tame the Monster Mile and would roll off Sunday’s starting grid from the 17^th position.

Bright sunshine, hot temperatures and a slight breeze welcomed the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to the track on Sunday. Mears would start from the 17^th position when the green flag turned the field loose for 400-miles of racing. He dropped to 18^th on lap three, but then sat solidly in that position for the next 51 laps. He then worked his way into the top ten before being forced down pit road for a scheduled green flag pit stop on lap 73. After being outfitted with four tires and fuel, Mears rejoined the race in the 19^th position and began making up ground.

Mears passed Carl Edwards on lap 149 to take over the 18^th position and was sitting in 16^th when Matt Kenseth lost an engine and brought out the caution on lap 160. Mears then headed down pit road under caution where the Germain Racing pit crew promptly refreshed the #13 GEICO Ford with four fresh tires and a full tank of fuel, allowing Mears to restart the race from the 15^th position. He then made quick work of Dale Earnhardt, Jr, and captured the 14^th position before passing Clint Bowyer for 13^th on lap 202.

Mears and his #13 GEICO Ford Fusion would never at any point during the race depart from the top 20. After 400-laps/400-miles of racing, Mears recorded a 16^th place, lead lap finish on a hot and humid Delaware Sunday afternoon. His effort accounts for the team’s fifth top 20 finish of the season and boosts him one spot up to 25^th in the Sprint Cup Series’ driver point standings.

“This was a great day for our GEICO team because we were consistent and the pit crew did a nice job and we were able to get a 16^th place finish,” Mears said. “We were also able to finish the race on the lead lap, which is tough to do at Dover, as seen on the finishing order where I think only 16 cars did it. I’m proud of everyone on this 13 team; we keep making good progress. I want to thank everyone out there that supports our Germain Racing team, especially the people at GEICO. We were excited to have a lot of GEICO folks with us today since their office is so close.”

Up next for the Germain Racing team is the Tricky Triangle in Long Pond, PA.

Casey Mears and the #13 GEICO Ford Fusion will hit the track at Pocono Raceway for the opening practice session on Friday, June 7^th, at 12:00 PM (EDT). Qualifying will follow at 3:40 PM (EDT).

PMI PR

Race Highlights:

• Richard Childress Racing teammates finished eighth (Kevin Harvick), 11^th (Jeff Burton) and 20^th (Paul Menard).
• Following the event at Dover International Speedway, Harvick gained two positions moving to fifth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings, trailing leader Jimmie Johnson by 74 markers, while Menard ranks 10^th, 102 points back, and Burton sits 21^st, 150 points out of the top position.
• The No. 29 Chevrolet SS team ranks fifth in the Sprint Cup Series owner championship point standings, with the No. 27 team 10^th and the No. 31 team 24^th.
• According to NASCAR's Loop Data Post-Race Statistics, Harvick completed 40 passes while running in the top 15, ranking him third in Quality Passes. He earned a 103.4 Driver Rating positioning him fourth amongst all competitors, was the fourth-Fastest Driver Late in a Run (143.585 mph), the fifth-Fastest Driver Early in a Run (147.626 mph) and completed the fifth-most Green Flag Passes (54).
• Harvick spent the entire 400-lap event running in the Top 15, tying him for first in that loop data category.
• Burton gained five positions during the final 40 laps, ranking him third in the NASCAR Loop Data statistic category of Closers.
• Burton made 37 Green Flag Passes during the 400-lap race and recorded the Fastest Laps Run 14 times. Menard made 26 Green-Flag Passes throughout the 400-lap event and was ranked 12^th in the Closer category, which is positions improved in the last 40 laps of the race.
• Tony Stewart earned his first victory of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and was followed to the finish line by Juan Pablo Montoya, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski.
• The next Sprint Cup Series race is the Party in the Poconos 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, June 9.The 14^th race of the 2013 season is scheduled to be televised live on TNT beginning at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio.

Menard Finishes 20^th at Dover International Speedway

 

Paul Menard started the 400-mile event at Dover International Speedway from the 16^th position and struggled with handling issues throughout the day to finish 20^th on Sunday afternoon. A long green-flag run at the start of the race, coupled with a tight-handling condition, caused Menard to fall a lap down to the leader at lap 56. The No. 27 crew made a variety of chassis adjustments during the ensuing pit stops on laps 71 and 82. The changes provided some relief to the Eau Claire, Wis., native as he radioed to the crew that the car was the best it had been all day. As the laps wore on, Menard began to struggle with a race car that was loose on entry and exit, and tight in the center of the corners. Continued long-green-flag runs and persistent handling issues contributed to Menard falling two laps down to the leader at lap 282. The team never gave up and made an array of chassis adjustments for the remainder of the event. A caution on lap 379 allowed the 32-year-old driver to take the "wave around" gaining one of his laps back. Restarting in 19^th with 20 laps to go, Menard was able to maintain a top-20 running position for the remainder of the event, crossing the finish line 20^th. Menard sits in 10^th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings heading into Pocono Raceway.

 

Start - 16Finish - 20Laps Led - 0 Points - 10th

 

PAUL MENARD QUOTE:

"It was a tough day for the No. 27 Libman/Menards crew. We struggled with handling all weekend at Dover (International Speedway), and never seemed to hit on the right setup. My guys never gave up and worked their guts out making a variety of adjustments all day to try and get the car to handle better. We fought hard to get one of our laps back, but we just couldn't gain any track position. We'll head to Pocono (Raceway) next weekend looking for better results."

 

 

Harvick Finishes Eighth at "The Monster Mile"

 

Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Jimmy John's team earned an eighth-place result at Dover International Speedway on Sunday afternoon after starting from the seventh position and battling handling issues during the 400-lap affair. The California native maintained a spot within or near the top-10 throughout the FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks while battling loose and tight-handling conditions. The Gil Martin-led pit crew executed multiple scheduled two and four-tire pit stops, along with an array of chassis adjustments, in an effort to neutralize handling of the Jimmy John's Chevrolet. Speedy stops on pit road allowed Harvick to gain valuable track position, working his way up to as high as third for the lap-285 restart. As the race progressed, the Richard Childress Racing veteran alerted the team he was still battling a loose-handling condition, which ultimately caused him to fall back in the field crossing the finish line in the eighth position. Following the top-10 finish, Harvick gained two spots in the Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings moving up to fifth.

 

Start - 7Finish - 8Laps Led - 1 Points - 5th

 

KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:

"Our Jimmy John's Chevrolet was good one run, really loose one run and really tight the next run. At the end we were loose and tight, so we lost a few spots and weren't able to make our way back toward the front. The team really worked hard today and the pit crew was on top of things, so were able to hang in there and get a solid top-10 finish."

 

 

Burton Finishes 11th at Dover International Speedway

 

Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Cheerios Chevrolet team battled their way to a top-15 finish of 11th at Dover International Speedway. Starting the 400-lap event from the 29th position, the 21-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race winner worked his way into the top 20 early, but was trapped one lap down to the leader during a long green-flag run. As a loose on entry and tight in the middle-handling condition persisted throughout the race, Burton struggled with ill-timed caution-flag periods as opportunities to return to the lead lap via the "Lucky Dog" award eluded him. Finally, on lap 161, the caution flag was displayed and the 45-year-old driver was able to return to the lead lap. Restarting in the top 20, Burton struggled throughout another long green-flag run and found himself one lap down to the leader again. The Cheerios team didn't give up through the course of the race, making several chassis adjustments to remedy the ill-handling condition and finally started to showcase speed in the latter stages of long runs. The Richard Childress Racing driver was finally dealt good luck with 22 laps to go when he received the "Lucky Dog" award to again return to the lead lap. The fortunate turn of events gave Burton the opportunity to gain five positions during the final 20 laps and bring home an 11th-place finish. Burton is now tied for 20th in the Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings.

 

Start - 29Finish - 11Laps Led - 0Points - 20th

 

JEFF BURTON QUOTE:

"Everyone on this Cheerios Chevrolet team put in a solid effort all weekend. I had a really fast car on the long runs, but getting trapped a lap down twice hindered our chances of a top-10 finish. After testing at Pocono Raceway last week, I feel like we are starting to gain momentum moving into the summer races and am looking for another strong result there."

 

RCR PR

During the latter half of the FedEx 400 benefitting Autism Speaks NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Dover (Del.) International Speedway, Danica Patrick heard crew chief Tony Gibson tell her several times over the radio that her lap times in the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) were comparable with drivers running in the top-10.

That’s music to the ears of any Sprint Cup driver, much less one who was competing on Dover’s legendary “Monster Mile” for just the second time.

Patrick put forth a gritty performance on a hot, humid afternoon on one of NASCAR’s most difficult racetracks, taking the checkered flag in 24^th place after starting 39^th and battling back from contact in the early going.

She moved up to 34^th after the green flag dropped, but on lap 37 she made contact with the car of David Stremme from behind and cut a tire. She pitted immediately for a new set of tires and to allow the crew to inspect the car, but no significant damage was found. The green-flag stop dropped Patrick three laps off the pace.

“It was one of those Martinsville-like deals, where we got all bunched up and I had no option but to keep the steering wheel straight or else we both would’ve gotten taken out,” Patrick said over the radio.

Despite dropping to 41^st after the unscheduled stop, the rest of Patrick’s day was rather strong. She picked up 17 positions and lost just one more lap over the final 360 tours of the often-unforgiving, high-banked concrete oval.

“I definitely didn’t make our day start off right by getting into the 30 in (turns) three and four and getting a cut tire,” Patrick said. “We were only 30 or so laps into the run, so we really were three laps down from the get-go. It made for a long day, but it didn’t mean that the GoDaddy team gave up. We still salvaged points, of course. That’s what we have to keep doing – learning and finishing all of these races so I can get better.”

Patrick’s SHR teammate Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Code 3 Associates/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, took the lead for the first time on lap 398 of the 400-lap race and led the final three laps en route to his 48^th career victory and first this season. It was his third victory, 11^th top-five finish and 16^th top-10 in 29 career Sprint Cup starts at Dover. It was also his third top-10 this season.

The victory also extended Stewart’s streak of winning at least one race per season since joining the Sprint Cup Series in 1999.

The third member of SHR, Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet for SHR, finished 36^th after starting fifth. It was his 23^rd career Sprint Cup start at Dover and was marred by a mid-race accident.

Juan Pablo Montoya finished .788 of a second behind Stewart in the runner-up spot, while Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were seven caution periods for 32 laps, with nine drivers failing to finish the 400-lap race.

With round 13 of 36 complete, Stewart leads the SHR contingent in the championship point standings. He moved up four spots to 16^th and has 338 points, 135 back of series leader Jimmie Johnson and 33 points behind 10^th-place Paul Menard. Newman fell four places to 20^th in the standings and has 323 points, 150 out of first and 48 behind Menard. Patrick picked up one position to 29^th in the standings and has 231 points, 242 behind Johnson and 140 away from Menard.

Thirteen 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 11^th and 20^th 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 11 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 13^th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Party in the Poconos 400 on Sunday, June 9 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at noon.

TSC PR