Kasey Kahne is in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, but before the veteran driver turns his first lap in the Chase, he will wheel a Sprint Cup car through downtown Roanoke.

As part of a nationwide kickoff celebrating the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Kahne will appear in Roanoke Wednesday and drive a Sprint Cup car down Jefferson Street, across Campbell Avenue and onto the Historic Roanoke City Market where he will be met by the Patrick Henry High School marching band, cheerleaders and a crowd of fans. The excitement begins at 11 a.m.

The event is presented by Martinsville Speedway, which hosts the seventh race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the Goody’s^™ Headache Relief Shot^™ 500 Powered by Kroger on October 27.

Kahne is seeded 11^th in the 12-driver Chase field. The 10-year Sprint Cup veteran nailed down one of two wildcard spots in the Chase by virtue of his two victories in 2013. The first 10 spots in the Chase field were awarded to the top 10 drivers in the point standings after Saturday night’s race. The final two positions went to the two drivers with the most victories on the year that weren’t among the top 10 in points.

Kahne, who finished 14^th in Saturday night’s race, believes his team has what it takes to win his first Sprint Cup championship.

“I would say the majority of the season we’ve had as much speed as anybody, and if we can put that together for nine or 10 of these next 10, we’ll definitely have a shot,” said Kahne, who has 16 career Sprint Cup victories.

After driving the Sprint Cup car onto the Historic Roanoke City Market Wednesday, Kahne will be greeted on a stage in front of Center In The Square by Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell, Roanoke City Mayor David Bowers, and Jaclyn Roney, Miss Sprint Cup. He will accept a proclamation from Bowers, address the crowd and conduct a question-and-answer session with the fans.

“We are very excited to bring Kasey Kahne to Roanoke to visit with all the great fans in the area,” said Campbell. “We invite everyone to come out Wednesday and help us kick off the Chase and have a great time. We want the day to be a big celebration of racing in the Roanoke Valley.”

Martinsville Speedway PR

Jeff Green and the No 14 Hefty®/Reynolds® team finished 22^nd in Friday night’s 1,000^th NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond Int’l Raceway.  The team not only rallied back from receiving heavy left-front fender and side damage, but also put themselves in position for a top-20 finish from being two laps down to the race leader late in the race.  However, on the final restart with six laps remaining, tire issues came into play and Green slipped two positions to finish the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 in the 22^nd position.  With this finish, the TriStar Motorsports team took back the 22^ndposition in the NASCAR Owner Standings after slipping one spot last weekend.

Starting from the 20^th position, Green was able to maintain the spot in the first 25 laps, despite battling a car that was loose on entry and tight through the center of the turns. By lap 54, he slipped to the 24^th position.  A welcomed caution on lap 66 allowed the team to bring the silver and blue Reynolds Wrap® Camry to pit road for four tires, fuel, and adjustments to help the car’s handling condition.  In spite of advancing their position on pit road, the team received a tire violation penalty, and as a result, had to restart the race from the tail end of the field in the 24^th position.

On the restart, Green quickly began working his way through the lap-down cars and by lap 112, he was almost back to racing the cars on the lead lap.  Unfortunately, he ran out of time as the leaders passed him on lap 131, placing him one lap down.  An untimely caution two laps later trapped the Owensboro, KY native one lap down to the race leader.  Continuing to battle a car that was extremely tight in the center of the turns, Green brought the car to the attention of the crew where they changed four tires, added fuel, and made additional air-pressure and chassis adjustments in hopes of helping the No. 14 Camry turn better in the center of the turns.  On the lap 138 restart, Green was scored in the 24^th position.

Over the next 30 laps, the car’s handling changed from being too tight in the center to being extremely loose on entry, so Crew Chief Todd Myers went to work forming a game plan behind pit wall with the team. On lap 171, spotter Stevie Reeves informed Green to watch out for the No. 55 car who was coming across the track headed for pit road.  Unfortunately, when Green got to the outside of the car, the No. 55 decided not to enter pit road and made a sharp right turn into the left-front fender and side of the No. 14 Camry, thus bringing out the event’s fourth caution on lap 172.  Green visited pit road twice during the caution period to receive repairs on the car and also to get four fresh tires and fuel.  When the race resumed on lap 180, Green was scored in the 25^th position, one lap down to the race leader.

As the race continued, Green was able to work his way up to the 23^rd position, despite the loose-handling condition and the left-side damage to the Reynolds Wrap® Camry; but on lap 228, the leaders had once again caught the 51-year-old driver and put him two laps down.  The team decided to take a gamble as the yellow flag waved again on lap 229 and remain on track to receive the wave around.  When the race resumed on lap 234, Green was scored in the 23^rd position, one lap down to the race leader.

The gamble paid off as another caution flag waved two laps later making Green the recipient of the “lucky dog” award.  As a result, the team was able to return to the lead lap and restart the event from the tail end of the field in the 22^nd position. 

With only 11 laps remaining in the event when the race resumed, it looked as though Green would have to settle on a 22^nd-place finish since there wasn’t much time to pass all of the lap-down cars that were between him and the lead cars.  However, on lap 240, several cars tangled bringing out the final caution flag of the evening.  This allowed Green to move ahead of the lap-down cars for the final restart. When the race resumed with six laps remaining, Green was scored in the 20^th position.

Looking to secure another solid top-20 finish, it quickly became evident that it wasn’t in the cards for the Hefty®/Reynolds® team as newer tires outran  older tires on the restart and as a result, Green slipped two positions in the final laps to finish the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 in the 22^nd position.

Driver, Jeff Green Quotes:

“We had a decent car tonight, but I’m just bummed we were not able to get the finish we deserved.  We overcame a lot of obstacles and for that I am proud of the team, but in the end, we were on older tires and some of the guys behind us had newer tires so I didn’t have the grip I needed to secure that top-20 finish.”   

TMI PR

Race Highlights:

• Richard Childress Racing teammates finished fifth (Paul Menard), 11th (Kevin Harvick), and 18th (Jeff Burton) in the Federated Auto Parts 400.
• Following the event at Richmond International Raceway, Harvick is tied for the fourth seed in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, six markers out of the lead, while Menard is 17th in the driver championship point standings and Burton sits 22nd.
• The No. 29 Chevrolet SS team ranks fourth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner championship point standings, with the No. 27 team 18th in the standings and the No. 31 team 24th.
• According to NASCAR's Post-Race Loop Data Statistics, Menard was the ninth-Fastest Driver Late in a Run.
• Menard posted the eighth-fastest Speed in Traffic.
• Completing 38 passes while running in the top 15, Harvick was fourth in the loop data category of Quality Passes.
• Harvick gained two positions during the final 10 percent (40 laps) of the 400-lap event, ranking him sixth in the Closers category and was the sixth-Fastest Driver Late in a Run.
• With a 9.185 Average Running Position, Burton held the eighth-best average position of the 43-car field.
• Burton spent 84.5 percent of the 400-lap race running in the top 15 (338 laps).
• Carl Edwards earned his second victory of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season and was followed to the finish line by Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and Menard.
• The next Sprint Cup Series race is the GEICO 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 15. The 27th race of the 2013 season is scheduled to be televised live on ESPN beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.

Menard Earns a Fifth-Place Finish Under the Lights at Richmond International Raceway

Paul Menard and the No. 27 Pittsburgh Paints/Menards team brought home a fifth-place finish after starting from the 22nd position Saturday evening at Richmond International Raceway. Throughout the opening segment of the 400-lap event, the Eau Claire, Wis., native reported that his Chevrolet was free in and needed better drive off the corners. While running in the 21st position, Crew chief "Slugger" Labbe called the No. 27 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver to pit road on lap 92 for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment under green-flag conditions. The evening's first caution flag was displayed on lap 135, allowing Menard to pit for a second time taking four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. During the next lengthy green-flag run, Menard moved inside the top-15. Throughout the evening, the crew continued to adjust the handling on the Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet SS allowing Menard to turn the fastest lap times of the field. By lap 341 he was shown in the fifth position and charging forward. For the final 50 laps the Richard Childress Racing driver battled inside the top five. Labbe brought Menard to pit road for right-side tires only when the caution flag waved with eight laps remaining, giving him the lead for the green-white-checkered finish. Menard ultimately brought home a fifth-place result and his second top-five finish of the 2013 season. Menard remains 17th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings heading into the next race at Chicagoland Speedway.

Start - 22         Finish - 5         Laps Led - 3         Points - 17th

PAUL MENARD QUOTE:

"We had a great Pittsburgh Paints/Menards Chevrolet tonight. We started out a little loose but, "Slugger" (Labbe, crew chief) called for the right adjustments all night and we got dialed in to run up front. We tried strategy in hopes of bringing home a win, but two tires couldn't hold off the guys with four. I'm proud of our efforts this weekend in the garage and on pit road. I'm looking forward to Chicagoland (Speedway) next week."

Untimely Caution-Flag Period Thwarts Burton's Top-Five Run  

at Richmond International Raceway

Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet team finished 18th at Richmond International Raceway after an untimely caution-flag period trapped the Richard Childress Racing driver one lap down to the leader late in the race. Starting the 400-lap affair from the 19th position, Burton entered the top 15 early and was scored in seventh place after a fast pit stop by the Caterpillar pit crew on lap 91. Finding speed on multiple long green-flag runs, the 21-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner cracked the top five by the halfway point of the 300-mile event. Burton maintained a top-five running position throughout the majority of the race, running as high as third while turning some of the fastest laps in the 43-car field. After making a routine four-tire pit stop on lap 339 under green-flag conditions, disaster struck when Jimmie Johnson made contact with the outside retaining wall, bringing out the yellow flag. The untimely caution-flag period trapped Burton one lap down to the leader and forced the 46-year-old driver to take the "wave around" and earn his lap back under caution. Restarting 15th, Burton reported handling issues as the black and yellow machine was trapped in heavy traffic and the RCR driver battled hard to an 18th-place finish when the checkered flag was displayed. Burton remains 22nd in the Sprint Cup Series driver championship point standings.

Start - 19          Finish - 18          Laps Led - 0           Points - 22nd

JEFF BURTON QUOTE:

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), was in contention not only to win the Federated Auto Parts 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway but also to lock himself into the 2013 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field. But a controversial late-race caution foiled the victory and the second wild-card position for Newman, leaving him outside the 2013 championship battle.

Newman and Martin Truex Jr. tied for the second wild card with one race victory each and the same number of points. With the first tiebreaker being number of second-place finishes, Truex won by virtue of a having one, earned in April at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, to Newman’s zero.

“We didn’t expect to make up for everything that we didn’t get in the first 25 races in the last race, but we were in position,” Newman said. “We were in a position to take that second wild card with two wins. It’s disappointing. But we’ll go on. The Quicken Loans Chevrolet was good, no doubt. Matt (Borland, crew chief) and the guys did a good job making it fast. In the end, I’m proud of the guys. We came from nowhere this year to be in this position. If it wasn’t for that last caution, we would be in the Chase.”

Newman started 24^th in the 43-car field, and despite battling a tight-handling racecar was able to hold his position until he came to pit road for a green-flag stop on lap 96. Crew chief Matt Borland called for a track bar adjustment when 2003 Richmond winner Newman came to the attention of the Quicken Loans crew. Newman continued to struggle with a combination of an ill-handling racecar and a lack of track position but was able to shave time from his deficit to the race leader.

Borland continued to call for minor adjustments each time Newman hit pit road, which allowed him to continue advancing toward the front of the field.

As the laps came to a close, Newman raced his way to the front of the field on lap 391. When Clint Bowyer spun to bring out the caution flag on lap 394, Newman led the field to pit road for the final stops of the night. A slow stop by the No. 39 team saw Newman drop from first to fifth, but Quicken Loans driver Newman gained two positions over the final three laps to finish third.

“We came down pit road first,” Newman said. “Carl (Edwards) came off pit road second. We should have been at least second at that point. We didn’t do our job on pit road. Four tires won the race. We were the first car to be in position on four tires, and we didn’t get the job done. We did everything we needed to up until the last caution. I’m not sure exactly what unfolded there. We still had the opportunity to win it on pit road, and we didn’t. Coming from fifth to third in a couple laps is not bad. But we had to win, so it’s disappointing.”

Newman’s SHR teammate Mark Martin, interim driver of SHR’s No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS as he subs for the injured Tony Stewart, finished ninth. It was Martin’s 31^st top-10 in 56 career Sprint Cup starts at the .75-mile oval.

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 30^th in her 36^th career Sprint Cup start and her second at Richmond. Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 20 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 10th for his first career top-10.

Carl Edwards won the Federated Auto Parts 400 to score his 21^st career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his first at Richmond.

Kurt Busch finished .668 of a second behind Edwards in the runner-up spot, while Newman, Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard rounded out the top-five. Matt Kenseth, Truex, Jeff Gordon, Martin and Stenhouse comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were five caution periods for 29 laps, with three drivers failing to finish the 400-lap race.

Richmond marked the last race of the regular season, as the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins.

The top-10 drivers in points are eligible to compete in the Chase, along with two wild-card drivers – Kasey Kahne and Truex – who were admitted to the Chase field by having the most wins among the drivers who were between 11^th and 20^th in the standings. NASCAR recalibrated the points for the 12 drivers as soon as the Richmond race was over, with each driver getting 2,000 points. With the exception of wild-card entrants Kahne and Truex, drivers also received three bonus points for each of their respective wins during the 26-race regular season. For drivers starting the Chase with identical point totals, their seed was determined by the traditional tiebreaker of best finishes beyond race victories.

TSC PR

Grant Enfinger picked up a new sponsor this week that allowed him to come to Iowa Speedway. It turned out to be a good move. Enfinger, in the No. 90 Motor Honey-Casite-Advance Ford, won the Prairie Meadows 150, for his second victory of the season.

"I'm pretty excited right now," Enfinger said. "It's a good feeling."

Kyle Weatherman won the SCOTT Rookie of the race award by finishing second in the No. 11 LoneStarProductions.com-United Nissan Dodge, Chad Boat third in the No. 84 amenzone Fitness-Billy Boat Performance Exhaust Toyota, Corey LaJoie fourth in the No. 17 Dewey's Automotive-Medallion.com Ford and Kyle Benjamin fifth in The Ad Man Toyota.

Enfinger, from Fairhope, Ala., led from lap 90 to 111, was passed by Boat, then grabbed the lead back a lap later. Weatherman took the lead on lap 124 and stayed there until Enfinger got by him on lap 144 and held on for the victory. The key, he said, was finding a high line groove on the race track.

"We were on the bottom and Weatherman went by me like I was standing still. I couldn't believe how high he was running," Enfinger said. "We went up there and had a lot of grip and we were running as fast as him. I was reeling him in and he got up there a bit and we got by him.

"The car was not great until that last pit stop," he said. "(Crew chief) Kelly Kovski made some adjustments and it really came alive."

There were numerous battles for the lead and for position during the 150-lap, 132-mile race on the 7/8ths-mile track. Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell winner Mason Mingus led the first 26 laps, the longest single stretch anyone led all night. Boat led 53 laps, LaJoie 20, Weatherman 20 and Enfinger 31.

There were three cautions for 22 laps in a race that took 1 hour, 17 minutes to complete.

Weatherman accelerated to the lead on lap 124, coming from fifth to the lead within a couple of laps. He remained there until six laps were left when his car brushed the wall. He hit the wall again two laps later while trying to get back to the front.

"We figured out a pretty good groove up there at top. We had a fast car for about 20 laps. It got really tight. Enfinger found the same line I did," Weatherman said. "He had a little better car at the end and beat us by a little bit."

"We had a good run. It's just my fourth race. We have a lot of racing to go."

Boat, the lap leader for the race, said the side-by-side racing and numerous lead changes are a credit to the track.

"It's a testament to Iowa Speedway," Boat said. "This is easiest one of the best tracks we come to. You can run on top and run on the bottom. You don't have to get into anybody to get by them. I had a lot of fun racing with Corey and Grant and Kyle, for a while, but then he pretty much blew by me."

West Des Moines, Iowa, driver Mason Mitchell - the only Iowa driver in the race - finished sixth in the Happy Cheeks Ford, Mingus in the REALTREE Outdoor Energy Toyota seventh, Tom Hessert in the Barbera's Autoland Dodge eighth with Will Kimmel ninth in the Messina Wildlife Ford and his uncle, Frank Kimmel, 10th in the No. 44 Ansell-Menards Toyota.

Frank Kimmel finished a lap down, the first time all year he did not finish the race on the lead lap. However, he still maintained the series point lead heading into Salem Speedway next week and finished in the top 10 for the 28th consecutive race.

Enfinger, in his 50th career ARCA Racing Series start, became the eighth different winner at Iowa Speedway in the eight ARCA races at the track which sits just off Interstate 80. The new sponsor brought to the team this week was American Hammered. He credited all of his sponsors for helping him get into his seventh ARCA race of the season. He won at Mobile International Speedway in March and was fifth at Michigan. The Prairie Meadows 150 was his fourth top 10 of the season.

'It's been disappointing to have such a great team and such good supporters but not be able to get to the track," he said.

The team will keep digging, he said, adding sponsors and getting to races.

"We've been competitive every time we've hit the track, its' just been getting there," he said. "We've really shown speed everywhere we've been. ...  It all worked out tonight. It's about time."

ARCA Racing PR

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), finished 30^th in the Federated Auto Parts 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

Patrick, who started 36^th, never could get the car to her liking during the race.

“It just wasn’t our night,” said Patrick, who made her 36^th Sprint Cup start and her second at Richmond. “We just didn’t get it right. Tony Gibson (crew chief) and the GoDaddy guys never gave up and worked hard all weekend. There are nights that you just know it’s not going to go your way, and this was one of those nights. We’ve been making gains in recent weeks, but tonight was tough. The important thing is for me and the guys to forget about it and move onto Chicago and look to get better.”

Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 20 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 10^th for his first career top-10. She remained 27^th in the standings with 473 points.

Patrick’s teammate, Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS, finished third in the Federated Auto Parts 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Newman led four laps before scoring his sixth top-five of 2013 and his sixth top-five in 24 career Sprint Cup starts at Richmond.

The third member of SHR, Mark Martin, finished ninth as he subs for the injured Tony Stewart as the interim driver of SHR’s No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS. It was Martin’s 31^st top-10 in 56 career Sprint Cup starts at the .75-mile oval.

Carl Edwards won the Federated Auto Parts 400 to score his 21^st career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his first at Richmond.

Kurt Busch finished .668 of a second behind Edwards in the runner-up spot, while Newman, Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard rounded out the top-five. Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon, Martin and Stenhouse comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were five caution periods for 29 laps, with three drivers failing to finish the 400-lap race.

Richmond marked the last race of the regular season, as the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins.

The top-10 drivers in points are eligible to compete in the Chase, along with two wild-card drivers – Kasey Kahne and Truex – who were admitted to the Chase field by having the most wins among the drivers who were between 11^th and 20^th in the standings. NASCAR recalibrated the points for the 12 drivers as soon as the Richmond race was over, with each driver getting 2,000 points. With the exception of wild-card entrants Kahne and Truex, drivers also received three bonus points for each of their respective wins during the 26-race regular season. For drivers starting the Chase with identical point totals, their seed was determined by the traditional tiebreaker of best finishes beyond race victories.

Newman just missed the Chase, as his third-place finish in the Federated Auto Parts 400 put him in a tie with Truex for the second and final wild-card spot. But Truex won the tiebreaker as he had more second-place finishes than Newman.

TSC PR

Mark Martin, driving in place of the injured Tony Stewart, rallied to a strong ninth-place finish in the Federated Auto Parts 400 Saturday night at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

With a Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS that was loose into the corners, tight in the middle and loose off the corners, Martin had his hands full. He dropped from his 16^th-place starting spot and went a lap down before the halfway mark of the 400-lap race around the .75-mile oval.

But Martin and crew chief Steve Addington stayed the course, earning their lap back when a timely caution came out on lap 208. From there, the duo continuously worked on the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 machine. A savvy call by Addington to take only two tires on the final pit stop during a caution period on lap 395 placed Martin third for the three-lap shootout to the finish.

Martin manhandled his still imperfect racecar around the D-shaped layout for the final three laps, crossing the stripe in ninth to earn his first top-10 with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) and his 31^st top-10 in 56 career Sprint Cup starts at Richmond.

“Really proud of all the guys on this Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 team,” Martin said. “They improved the car throughout the race and made some great calls. We got our first top-10 together. We’ll take that and build on it.”

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Quicken Loans Chevrolet for SHR, finished third to score his sixth top-five of 2013 and his sixth top-five in 24 career Sprint Cup starts at Richmond.

Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 30^th in her 36^th career Sprint Cup start and her second at Richmond. Patrick, who is competing for Rookie of the Year honors against Ricky Stenhouse Jr., finished 20 spots behind Stenhouse, who placed 10^th for his first career top-10.

Carl Edwards won the Federated Auto Parts 400 to score his 21^st career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his first at Richmond.

Kurt Busch finished .668 of a second behind Edwards in the runner-up spot, while Newman, Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard rounded out the top-five. Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Gordon, Martin and Stenhouse comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were five caution periods for 29 laps, with three drivers failing to finish the 400-lap race.

Richmond marked the last race of the regular season, as the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins.

The top-10 drivers in points are eligible to compete in the Chase, along with two wild-card drivers – Kasey Kahne and Truex – who were admitted to the Chase field by having the most wins among the drivers who were between 11^th and 20^th in the standings. NASCAR recalibrated the points for the 12 drivers as soon as the Richmond race was over, with each driver getting 2,000 points. With the exception of wild-card entrants Kahne and Truex, drivers also received three bonus points for each of their respective wins during the 26-race regular season. For drivers starting the Chase with identical point totals, their seed was determined by the traditional tiebreaker of best finishes beyond race victories.

Newman just missed the Chase, as his third-place finish in the Federated Auto Parts 400 put him in a tie with Truex for the second and final wild-card spot. But Truex won the tiebreaker as he had more second-place finishes than Newman.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the first race of the Chase – is the Geico 400 on Sept. 15 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with a pre-race show at 1 p.m.

TSC PR

Roush Fenway turned in its most impressive performance of the 2013 season in the Sprint Cup ‘regular season’ finale Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway. Carl Edwards led 46 laps en route to his second win of the season; taking the Sprint Cup points lead in his stride.

Greg Biffle secured his sixth career ‘Chase’ entry with a solid run and 12^th-place finish, and RFR rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. capped off the night with the team’s first top-10 finish of the season.

The win is Roush Fenway's fifth in the Sprint Cup Series at Richmond and its 15th overall NASCAR win at the track. Edwards is the fifth RFR driver to win in the Cup series at RIR and adds the accomplishment to his three NNS wins at the track. 

For RFR it marks the 10^th time in 10 seasons of the Chase the team has placed multiple entries inside the Sprint Cup ‘playoff’ field. It marks the seventh time that Edwards has made the Chase field in his career. RFR placed a record five of 10 entries inside the 2005 Chase, including both Edwards and Biffle. 

RFR has finished runner up in the Chase on two occasions, including two seasons ago when Edwards finished tied for the series’ championship.

It also marks the third straight season that RFR has led the Sprint Cup point standings at the culmination of the 26-event race for the Chase. 

The Chase kicks off next week at Chicagoland Speedway.  Once the field is reset for the Chase, Edwards will be seeded fifth (-9), while Biffle will start seventh (-12 ).

RFR PR

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion – CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOUR EMOTIONS RIGHT NOW? “I don’t really have any emotions right now. We weren’t good enough to make it and we didn’t. That is the reality.”  TAKE US THROUGH HOW YOUR RACE UNFOLDED TONIGHT. “We were pretty good at the start and led a lot of laps. I think we led the most laps but we just weren’t strong enough to really stay up there. We needed clean air to really run well and once we lost that we just weren’t strong enough.”  WE HEARD YOU ON THE RADIO TALKING TO YOUR GUYS AND SAYING YOU NEEDED TO SWING FOR THE FENCES. WHAT IS THAT LIKE IN THE MOMENT WHEN YOU KNOW YOU HAVE A CAR THAT IS CAPABLE OF WINNING THE RACE AND IT STARTS TO WANE ON YOU A BIT? “Yeah, that is just the way our cars have been this year. They haven’t been good enough and we haven’t executed as well as we neeced to. We have work to do. At the end of the day, the thing about points is it is the best measuring stick in sports. You know who deserves to be where because the results speak for themselves. We didn’t have enough results to get where we needed to be.”  HOW CLOSE WERE YOU AT THE END OF THAT RACE TO THE 15? THERE WAS SOME QUESTION AS TO IF CLINT MIGHT HAVE SPUN HIMSELF ON PURPOSE. “No, I couldn’t tell you that. I didn’t see it.”

JOEY LOGANO, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion –  “Well, we are in. If feels great. Man, what a terrible race though. We were hanging on the whole time. I didn’t know where we were and everytime I asked where we stood and they didn’t answer me. I thought that wasn’t good if they weren’t answering me. It feels good to put one of these Chase hats on and we can regroup and go for a championship now. It feels good. It has been a lot of years I have been trying to get into the Chase. It is a big accomplishment. Once you are in doesn’t mean you are done. I want to try to go for it. I have 100-percent confidence in this team to make it happen. We are going to forget about tonights finish and make the most of this Chase.”  YOU ARE ONE OF THE SEXY PICKS TO WIN THIS THING. DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE A PICK TO WIN THIS THING? “Oh yeah. We can win this thing. We just have to run better than what we did tonight.” THE FLIP SIDE IS YOUR TEAMMATE BRAD KESELOWSKI FINDS HIMSELF NOT IN THE CHASE. “Yeah, that is tough. Brad has had fast cars. It is so hard to make this Chase. We both went through a lot this season of having bad finishes and fast race cars. It feels good to get in it but I know what he is going through right now and it is tough. He is a champion though and he will get through it. If anyone things he is going to run over and die they are crazy. He will win some races for sure.” HOW DOES IT FEEL TO GET IN?  “It feels really good after having such a rough night.  The car was really struggling all night.  I kept asking Todd where we were, if we were good or bad and he never really answered me, so I was thinking, ‘I don’t think that’s good.’  Thank God for that last caution, I guess.  I think we were out before that, so we’ve got to forget this finish tonight and reset our goals for the championship and try to get this Shell/Pennzoil Ford a championship.  This team is capable of doing it.  Thank God we’re not ever coming back to Richmond until next year and we’ve got to score some points and score some wins now.”  OVER THE LAST 6 OR 7 WEEKS YOU HAVE BEEN STRONG.  HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU FOR THE CHASE?  “I’m encouraged for sure.  All of our finishes leading up to this race were really, really good.  I feel like we were the hottest team in NASCAR coming into this race, so we’re not gonna let this kill our momentum.  We’re gonna take this momentum we have getting into the Chase and let ‘er rip and have some fun.”

ROGER PENSKE, OWNER, No. 22 Shell Penzoil Ford Fusion – YOUR THOUGHTS ON JOEY MAKING THE CHASE. “First I have to thank Carl Edwards for winning that race. That made a huge difference there at the end because if Newman would have won we would have been out. Joey persevered all season and I guess when he had those couple DNF’s that tonight was something in our favor. We just thank the Dear Lord and everyone for taking care of us tonight and giving us a safe race. We are in the Chase. That is what we came here for. Now we start all over again.”  THE FLIP SIDE IS BRAD DOES NOT MAKE THE CHASE. “Brad has done such a great job and as I told him today before the race, I said that we might not get in but it is like business, you will have some good months and bad months but we have a great company. He has done a great job for us with what he is doing on the Nationwide side as well. He deserved better than he got and I think we let him down a couple of times but overall he is a class guy and a great guy to have on the team and I need to thank him for getting us Joey Logano.”

GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 Scotchgard Ford Fusion – “I feel really good right now. I gave up there at the end. Those guys were going crazy. I wish I would have gotten a top-five finish out of that. I don’t even know where I finished. I am happy for Carl and we worked hard all night. We had a great car. I just couldn’t get it right getting into one and as the speed started picking up I started getting worse. I just could never get it right getting into one down there.” IT’S BEEN AN UP AND DOWN YEAR FOR YOU. NOW THAT YOU ARE IN THE CHASE, HOW DO YOU FEEL GOING FORWARD? “We feel good. Look at how we ran here tonight. Man, if our Chase looks like that, we are right where we need to be. I am happy about that.”

CARL EDWARDS, No. 99 Kellogg’s/Cheeze-It Ford Fusion – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW – “That’s my pit crew that won this race for us.  It was just an awesome job by them.  It’s so cool to put Kellogg’s in Victory Lane – Kellogg’s, Fastenal, Ford, Subway, Aflac, The Geek Squad, UPS, Sprint – all the fans, Wiley X, everybody who has been behind us all year, especially my fans.  It was up at the beginning with Jimmy and our new team, and then we struggled for a little while, but the last three weeks have been great.  We’ve led a bunch of laps and have had fast race cars and we’re having fun.  Thanks to Jack Roush.  We got Greg Biffle in the Chase.  We got Ford to Victory Lane and I’ve just got to thank New Holland and Cesna also.  They give me a lot of support through the year, but this is really cool.  I’m sure I haven’t won a race here in the Cup car, so it’s a big night for us.”  HOW STRONG CAN YOU BE IN THE CHASE?  “We’re gonna win the championship.  That’s our mission.  That seemed like a crazy idea about a month-and-a-half ago, but Jimmy and these guys have buckled down.  Everybody back at the shop, all the guys building these race cars, all of our Ford teammates – Brad, Joey and all the Penske guys – everybody has rallied together.  I can’t say enough about Robbie Reiser, Bob Osborne, Chip Bolin, all the guys at the shop.  We’ve got two guys in the Chase.  We’ve got Ricky Stenhouse, who had an awesome night tonight, but this championship would mean the world to me.  The next 10 weeks, we’re gonna be on them hard.  They’re gonna know we’re here.”

Ford Racing PR