Backstretch Motorsports

OK, everybody sing along, you know the tune:

“I’m going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come - they got a winning little speedway there and I’m gonna get me some…”

No?.. well.. it was worth a shot… (apologies to the late, great Wilbert Harrison)

If the ’stock-car’ racing standards are set in the way many have historically classified them, it breaks down this way: [read more...]

The emotion of winning at Richmond International Raceway for Denny Hamlin is finally realised. With tonight’s victory by Hamlin on his hometrack , Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has now totaled 75 victories in NASCAR’s elite racing series.

He also did it in convincing style, battling door-to-door with Jeff Gordon along the way. It was Hamlin’s second win of the season. He won earlier this year at Pocono.

“This is my Daytona 500″ said the FedEx Toyota Camry driver from nearby Chesterfield, Va. “I wanted to win here before I get a 500 win. It’s a good run for our team. It’s how we have run the last few times here and just haven’t got the win. You know, today everything just came together. We had good pit stops and didn’t make any mistakes.” [read more...]

The stage is set, the actors are as ready as they are going to be. It is showtime.

Making the big show is goal. All these drivers think they are going to be in - but somethings gotta give, not everybody can make it.

When the “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup” format was instituted in 2004, Richmond International Raceway inherited the annual Chase “cut-off” race, the final event before the Chase field is finalized. [read more...]

Hampton, GA) Kasey Kahne’s shoot-out style blast to Atlanta Motor Speedway’s Victory Lane in last night’s Pep Boys Auto 500 was nothing short of perfect. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver was working his No. 9 Budweiser Dodge to it’s limits in set up, favoring the short run., getting all it had on new tires and exploiting the long run theme that hampered both runner-up Kevin Harvick and third place finisher Juan Pablo Montoya.

Kahne, who figured he had a faster car on short runs, took the lead when the race was restarted with 11 laps to go and , with a helpful push from David Reutimann, simply ran away from the field, finishing a full 1.7 seconds ahead of the rest. [read more...]

Michigan’s dust-up has barely settled, the fuel milage battle was a game changer in many ways.

Brian Vickers gets the ‘all-important’ 10 bonus points, and albeit not comfortably, stays ahead of both Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch in actual standing.. but still not quite in the “Chosen Twelve” that get to the Chase.

The win was the important part, and another win would put him in no matter what others do. [read more...]

BROOKLYN, Mich. (Aug. 16, 2009) — Polesitter Brian Vickers ran out of gas at the end of Sunday’s Carfax 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

It’s a good thing it was on the way to Victory Lane. [read more...]

Qualifying Fast Facts
Michigan International Speedway
Michigan 400

Coors Light Pole Winner: Brian Vickers
Age: 25
Team : No. 83 - Red Bull Toyota
Owner: Dietrich Mateschitz
Crew Chief: Ryan Pemberton [read more...]

JOLIET, Ill. –A gutsy call, or a mistake in judgement. You could’ve hung your hat on either opinion if you had been sitting in the stands at Chicagoland Speedway for the close of Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

It’s all point of view.. neither really matters now, Dave Rogers sold his concept to his driver on a final restart that led to Victory Lane.

“This guy (Dave Rogers, crew chief) is a heck of a motivator.” race winner Joey Logano told reporters in the post-race presser. “I don’t know if you’ve ever heard him on the radio, that guy will make you drive harder than anyone out there. You can have a ninth-place car and he’ll make you think you have a first-place car. Always being confident on the radio helps me a lot as a driver. I was going off what he said. At first I thought this was going to be bad and then he made me think 50-50 of what it was going to be. Either way, I just drove my brains out.” [read more...]

Teammate Speed’s second gives Team Red Bull complete front row

Qualifying Fast Facts
Chicagoland Speedway
LifeLock.com 400

Coors Light Pole Winner: Brian Vickers
Age: 25
Team : No. 83 - Red Bull Toyota
Owner: Dietrich Mateschitz
Crew Chief: Ryan Pemberton [read more...]

Qualifying Fast Facts
Infineon Raceway
Toyota/Save Mart 350

Coors Light Pole Winner: Brian Vickers
Age: 25
Team : No. 83 - Red Bull Toyota
Owner: Dietrich Mateschitz
Crew Chief: Ryan Pemberton [read more...]