Backstretch Motorsports

LAS VEGAS, Nev., (February 28, 2010) – After turning in the fastest lap in final practice on Friday, defending Sam’s Town 300 winner Greg Biffle had high expectations of bringing home back-to-back NASCAR Nationwide Series wins at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Biffle ran in the top 10 for the majority of the race but despite numerous adjustments to the Red Man Moist Snuff Ford Fusion was unable to find the necessary speed to challenge for the win in Saturday’s race. With a ninth-place finish, the Red Man Racing team registered top-10 finishes in both of the February west coast races and also led at least one lap in each race.

“The Red Man Moist Snuff Ford Fusion was pretty good today,” said Biffle. “It was hard to pass out there because everyone seemed to be running about the same speed. We made a lot of adjustments near the end of the race trying to find some speed. We got a little better but needed more to get to the front. I thought we would have a better finish, but we ended up with another top 10 and that’s something to build on.”

The Vancouver, WA native started the race from the ninth position and made his way into the top 5 by lap 40. Biffle communicated to crew chief Rick Viers that the Red Man Moist Snuff Ford Fusion was a little tight as he continued to run fifth in the early stages of the race. As the leaders began to make their first pit stops of the day under green-flag conditions around lap 55, Biffle remained on the track and led a lap before coming down pit road on lap 60. The Red Man Racing crew put four fresh tires on the car, filled it with fuel and returned the No. 27 Ford Fusion to the track in 12th position.

Biffle had made his way back into fifth position when a caution occurred on lap 84. He communicated that the car was still tight and needed the crew to make an adjustment to free the car. He brought the Red Man Moist Snuff Ford down pit road where the crew put on four fresh tires, filled it with fuel and took a half-round of wedge out.

As the race progressed, the defending race winner continued to communicate to his crew chief that the car was too tight. Each pit stop the Red Man Racing crew continued to make adjustments on the car as the temperatures continued to decrease and threat of rain increased.

After a caution occurred on lap 165, Biffle brought the Red Man Moist Snuff Ford down pit road where the crew made a final attempt to free the car by moving the trackbar up two rounds and taking two rounds of wedge out of the right rear.

When the race restarted on lap 170 Biffle was scored in the 16th position. Over the last 30 laps of the race the veteran managed to maneuver his way past seven cars and finished in ninth place. The top-10 finish was his eighth career in nine NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Biffle, who is eighth in the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings, will be back in the Red Man Moist Snuff Ford Fusion Saturday, March 20th, when the Nationwide Series takes to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Scotts Turf Builder 300 on ABC at 2:00 p.m. ET.

LAS VEGAS, Nev., (February 28, 2010) – After earning his first career top 10 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last year, Scott Lagasse Jr. entered this weekend’s race with high hopes of a repeat performance. A penalty for jumping the restart on lap 92 put the No. 43 Dr. Gadget®/everybodygets1.com Ford Fusion two laps down and made for a long Sam’s Town 300, but the team managed to get back on the lead lap late in the race and earn a respectable 17th–place finish.

“It’s very difficult to go two laps down, especially on a judgment call, but this team didn’t give up.,” said Lagasse Jr. “17th-place is not a reflection of what kind of car we had today or what this team is capable of doing. The car drove much better today and I look for this team to continue to improve as the season progresses.”

Lagasse Jr. started the Sam’s Town 300 from the 32nd position. The team took advantage of a caution on lap 12 and filled the No. 43 Dr. Gadget®/everybodygets1.com Ford Fusion with fuel and put four fresh tires on. The St. Augustine, FL native worked his way through the field advancing into the top 20 on lap 55.

As the leaders began to pit, Lagasse Jr. made his way up to the third position before having to pit on lap 65. Shortly after returning to the track he surrendered a lap to the leader as he communicated to crew chief Jeff White that the car needed to turn better from the center-off of the corners.

After pitting under caution on lap 86, the No. 43 Dr. Gadget®/everybodygets1.com Ford Fusion returned to the track scored in 22nd position. As the field came down the frontstretch for the restart, Lagasse Jr. moved to the right to avoid contact with several cars checking up in front of him. NASCAR ruled that he jumped the restart and issued a pass-through penalty.

Lagasse Jr. brought his No. 43 Ford Fusion through pit road to serve the penalty and returned to the track two laps down in 24th position. He remained two laps down until a caution occurred on lap 146. When the leaders pitted, he remained on the track to take advantage of the wave around rule and moved to just one lap down.

When the race restarted on lap 150, Lagasse Jr. was in 22nd position. He quickly made his way around the three other drivers one lap down, putting himself in a position for the lucky dog. When another caution occurred on lap 167, the No. 43 Dr. Gadget®/everybodygets1.com Ford Fusion was awarded the lucky dog and was back on the lead lap. Once on the lead lap Lagasse Jr. ran the last 30 laps in the 17th position, earning his second straight top-20 finish.

Lagasse Jr. and the Dr. Gadget®/everybodygets1.com Racing team will be back in action Saturday, March 20th, when the Nationwide Series takes to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Scotts Turf Builder 300 on ABC at 2:00 p.m. ET.

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

LAS VEGAS — The best car in the Sam’s Town 300 finally got to the front — just in time to win the race.

Frustrated by slow stops on pit road and a variety of different tire strategies on the part of his competitors, Harvick passed Denny Hamlin for the lead with 25 laps left in Saturday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and pulled away to beat Hamlin by 1.361 seconds.

The victory was Harvick’s first of the season and the 35th of his career, second best all-time in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series.

Carl Edwards ran third, polesitter Brad Keselowski fourth and Brian Vickers fifth. Trevor Bayne, Justin Allgaier, Paul Menard, Greg Biffle and Steve Wallace completed the top 10. Danica Patrick fell out of the race after a crash on Lap 83 and finished 36th in her final NASCAR race before returning full-time to the IndyCar Series.

Fortunately for Harvick, his No. 33 Chevrolet had enough muscle to overcome what crew chief Ernie Cope termed the team’s “worst day ever” on pit road. Harvick lost spots on every exchange of pit stops.

“The car was really fast,” said Harvick, who led a race-high 82 laps, most of them early in the race before getting burned by the lackluster work in the pits. “We’ve definitely got some work to do on pit road, but, fortunately, the car was fast enough.

“I get mad, and they (the crew) know how I am and what I expect of them. … But you can only gripe about it so long, and then you have to go back and drive the car.”

Kyle Busch led 43 laps and was chasing Harvick and Hamlin during the final 25-lap green-flag run before contact with the wall in Turn 2 slowed his progress and dropped him to 16th at the finish. Busch, however, had the strongest car at the midpoint of the 200-lap race and led Vickers by 3.537 seconds when NASCAR yellow-flagged the race for the fourth time on Lap 104 because of a light rain shower.

That caution came 21 laps after Patrick’s No. 7 Chevrolet slammed into the outside wall, thanks to contact from Michael McDowell’s Dodge. Patrick, who pitted for fuel on Lap 17 and ran as high as third during a cycle of green-flag stops, had returned to the track with fresh tires and was closing quickly on McDowell, who was logging laps after blowing a tire and hitting the wall on Lap 16.

As Patrick ducked to the inside to make the pass, McDowell turned down and took away her line.

“Holy (expletive)! He (expletive) turned down,” Patrick fumed on the radio right after the wreck. “He’s got a broken rear bumper, and he’s (expletive) trying to race!”

McDowell took full responsibility for the incident, which relegated Patrick to a 36th-place finish in her final Nationwide race before her scheduled return to the series at New Hampshire in June.

“It was completely 100-percent my fault,” McDowell said. “The closing rate was so much, there just wasn’t much time to make a decision.”

Note: Edwards retained the series points lead by 41 over second-place Keselowski, 48 over Vickers in third and 56 over Allgaier in fourth.

 

RACE REPORT:

No. 6 Roush Fenway Ford Fusion

SAM’S TOWN 300
1.5-Mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas, N.V.

Saturday February 27, 2010

Unfortunate Ending to a Promising Weekend for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in Las Vegas

Las Vegas, N.V. (Feb. 27, 2010) – While the weekend started off slow for the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing team, it got fast in a hurry as Ricky Stenhouse Jr. qualified his Ford Fusion seventh for the Sam’s Town 300. After rain delayed the start of the event for nearly two hours, the rookie showed tremendous poise as he was steadily running in the top-15 for the first half of the race. But on lap 117, Stenhouse slipped up the track and hit the turn four wall. The team would have to take the car behind the wall for repairs. Stenhouse would return to the race, but have to settle for a 30th-place finish.

From the drop of the green flag Stenhouse radioed in to crew chief Ben Leslie that his Ford was tight and he was sliding the nose. Leslie called for a green flag pit stop on lap 57. The team performed wedge and air pressure adjustments with hopes of helping the young driver turn better in the corners. While the adjustments helped, the car was still not handling the way Stenhouse needed it to be.

On lap 83, the third caution flag was displayed and Leslie directed Stenhouse, who was a lap down, to stay on the track. This move enabled the No. 6 team to get back on the lead lap and in position to secure a solid finish. As the laps clicked off, Stenhouse was looking forward to his next pit stop which came under caution for rain on lap 106. This time, the crew made a track bar adjustment and tweaked the air pressure and sent Stenhouse on his way in the 15th position.

With fresh rubber and a better handling car, Stenhouse was laying down solid times until lap 117 when he slide up the track in turn four and hit the wall bringing out the fifth caution of the afternoon. After spending 46 laps in the garage as the crew worked tirelessly to repair the car, Stenhouse returned to the track to finish the race. He was credited with 30th place.

“We didn’t start the weekend off where we wanted to but we got it turned around and had a good qualifying effort,” said Stenhouse. “In the race, we started off tight but got the No. 6 Roush Fenway Ford better. We were on the lead lap and trying to finish this deal but I got tight in turn four and I got into the wall. The guys did a great job to get me back out there. We didn’t get a DNF so that’s a positive.”

Kevin Harvick was the first to the checkered flag in the Sam’s Town 300 on Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Stenhouse’s teammate Carl Edwards is leading the NASCAR Nationwide Series point standings after three races.

The NNS takes a two week hiatus before returning to action on the half mile short track at Bristol Motor Speedway. Stenhouse will be making his first career start at BMS in the Scotts Turf Builder 300.

RACE SUMMARY:

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

Started: 7th
Finished: 30th

Top Five Race Finishers:

1. Kevin Harvick
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Carl Edwards
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Brian Vickers

POINTS SUMMARY:

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

Position:	36th (After 3 of 35 races)
Race Total:	73 Points
Season Total:	174 Points (-331)

SEASON SUMMARY:

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.

Starts	Wins	Top Fives	Top 10s	Poles
3	0	0	0	0

NEXT UP:

Scotts Turf Builder 300
Bristol Motor Speedway (short track)
Bristol, T.N.
Saturday March 20, 2010

 

 
Starting Line Up by Row
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Sam’s Town 300
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Sat, February 27, 2010 @ 01:41 PM Eastern

	Pos	Car	Driver	Team	Time	Speed
Row 1:	1	22	Brad Keselowski	Discount Tire Dodge	29.122	185.427
	2	33	Kevin Harvick	Rheem Chevrolet	29.185	185.027
Row 2:	3	60	Carl Edwards	Copart Ford	29.269	184.496
	4	20	Denny Hamlin	Interstate Batteries Toyota	29.308	184.250
Row 3:	5	18	Kyle Busch	Z-Line Designs Toyota	29.321	184.168
	6	98	Paul Menard	Richmond / Menards Ford	29.459	183.306
Row 4:	7	6	Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #	Roush Fenway Ford	29.492	183.101
	8	11	Brian Scott #	StopRepairBills.com Toyota	29.532	182.852
Row 5:	9	27	Greg Biffle	Redman Moist Snuff Ford	29.549	182.747
	10	32	Brian Vickers	Dollar General Toyota	29.561	182.673
Row 6:	11	16	Colin Braun #	Roush Fenway Ford	29.612	182.359
	12	88	Kelly Bires	Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet	29.620	182.309
Row 7:	13	12	Justin Allgaier	Verizon Wireless Dodge	29.650	182.125
	14	21	John Wes Townley	Zaxby’s Chevrolet	29.696	181.843
Row 8:	15	66	Steve Wallace	5 Hour Energy Toyota	29.698	181.830
	16	1	James Buescher #	Phoenix Racing Chevrolet	29.716	181.720
Row 9:	17	96	Dennis Setzer	Stratosphere Dodge	29.747	181.531
	18	99	Trevor Bayne	Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota	29.748	181.525
Row 10:	19	70	Shelby Howard	ForeTravel Motorcoach Chevrolet	29.821	181.080
	20	09	Scott Riggs	RAB Racing Ford	29.897	180.620
Row 11:	21	42	Parker Kligerman #	Smith Ironworks Dodge	29.897	180.620
	22	87	Joe Nemechek	FrontRowJoe.com Chevrolet	29.981	180.114
Row 12:	23	15	Michael Annett	Pilot Travel Centers Toyota	29.986	180.084
	24	56	Kevin Lepage	Start Natural Energy Drink Chevrolet	30.000	180.000
Row 13:	25	05	Willie Allen	31W Insulation / Certainteed Chevrolet	30.013	179.922
	26	62	Brendan Gaughan	South Point Hotel & Casino Toyota	30.018	179.892
Row 14:	27	07	Danny Efland	Shred 360 / M&W Towing Chevrolet	30.023	179.862
	28	40	Mike Bliss	Buck Commander / Bad Boy Buggies	30.107	179.360
Row 15:	29	31	Stanton Barrett	Fuel-doctor.com Chevrolet	30.131	179.217
	30	90	Danny O’Quinn Jr.	D’Houdt Humphrey Mtrspts Chevrolet	30.156	179.069
Row 16:	31	38	Jason Leffler	Great Clips Toyota	30.180	178.926
	32	43	Scott Lagasse Jr.	Dr. Gadget / everybodygets1.com Ford	30.301	178.212
Row 17:	33	81	Michael McDowell	Monte Carlo Resort & Casino Dodge	30.376	177.772
	34	01	Mike Wallace	Monster Diesel Chevrolet	30.454	177.317
Row 18:	35	10	Chad Blount	Braun Racing Toyota	30.495	177.078
	36	24	Eric McClure	Hefty Ford	30.531	176.869
Row 19:	37	7	Danica Patrick	GoDaddy.com Chevrolet	Owner Points
	38	28	Kenny Wallace	Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet	Owner Points
Row 20:	39	61	Josh Wise	Stratosphere Ford	Owner Points
	40	34	Tony Raines	Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino Chevrolet	Owner Points
Row 21:	41	23	Robert Richardson Jr.	R3 Motorsports Chevrolet	Owner Points
	42	26	Brian Keselowski	Stratosphere Dodge	Owner Points
Row 22:	43	49	Mark Green	Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet	30.220	178.690

Did Not Qualify: # 35 Jason Keller; # 92 Johnny Chapman; # 73 Derrike Cope; # 04 Jeremy Clements; # 91 Stephen Leicht; # 83 John Borneman III; # 02 Andy Ponstein; # 89 Morgan Shepherd

Truck Series 2008 Rookie of the Year Colin Braun Will Drive the No. 16 Con-way Freight Mustang

CONCORD, N.C., October 13, 2009 – A new era of Mustang racing rolled out here today, piloted by an All-American driver and with a returning sponsor familiar to loyal NASCAR fans.

Three major events were rolled into one today as Ford teamed up with Roush Fenway Racing and Con-way Freight to unveil the No. 16 Con-way Freight Mustang with driver Colin Braun at Roush Fenway Racing headquarters in Concord, N.C. [read more...]

Starting from the rear of the field under a penalty for adjustments outside of impound, Carl Edwards methodically weaved his way through tight quarters Richmond International Raceway traffic to win tonight’s Virginia 529 College Savings 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

After his Dan Stillman led crew got his No. 60 Ford off pit road in the top spot under caution, Edwards ran away from Kevin Harvick over the final 20-lap green-flag run.

This is his fourth victory, 22nd top-10 finish in 2009 and his 24th victory in 168 NASCAR Nationwide Series races, three of those coming here at the classic .75 mile venue. [read more...]

HAMPTON, Ga. (Sept. 5, 2009) — Kevin Harvick passed polesitter Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the next-to-last lap and pulled away to win Saturday night’s Degree V12 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Kyle Busch, who also passed Earnhardt on Lap 194 of 195, ran second and padded his NASCAR Nationwide Series points lead from 192 to 221 over second-place Carl Edwards, who completed the race despite fracturing two bones in his right foot playing Frisbee on Wednesday. Edwards finished seventh, one lap down.

After pitting for the last time on Lap 125, Earnhardt saved enough fuel to make it to the end of the race but couldn’t stay ahead of Busch and Harvick, who came to the pits for four tires and gas on Lap 181 and 182, respectively.
[read more...]

David Ragan, of whom Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards characterizes as “wise beyond his years” won the NASCAR Nationwide Series Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway last night.

The victory was win number 2 in the second-tier series for the Unadilla, Ga. native, the first coming at Talladega earlier this season.

The No. 6 Discount Tire Ford Fusion driver managed a strong restart on a green-white-checkered-flag finish and held off RFR teammate Edwards in what proved to be a relatively quiet final shootout by Bristol standards.
[read more...]

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Aug. 8, 2009) — When Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Busch came to the chicane or “bus stop” on Lap 64 of Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International, Busch stopped — out of necessity — and Ambrose didn’t.

Ambrose’s bold move into the chicane proved to be the winning pass, as the driver of the No. 47 Toyota held the lead the for the final 19 laps, winning the event for the second straight year. [read more...]