Backstretch Motorsports

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...]

Throwing numbers from past seasons is a good thing, right?

Stats are a good barometer.. usually.

It would be except, this hasn’t been the easiest season to handicap, has it?

I mean, who would have really given Stewart Haas, the first year team for all intents and purposes, the top points position at all, let alone the potential to hold the number one spot.

And having both cars from that organisation in the Chase at this point? Nothing short of phenominal. [read more...]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (June 25, 2009) – Juan Pablo Montoya stretched his consecutive top-10 finish streak to three races with a sixth-place run at Infineon Raceway this past Sunday. Not only did the finish extend his longest career top-10 streak in stock cars, but it vaulted him back into the top 12 of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings.

Montoya’s statistics have dramatically improved since his 2007 rookie season. Below are his numbers over the first 16 races, in the last three seasons: [read more...]

Kasey Kahne proved one thing on Sunday at Sonoma.. it ain’t over till it’s over, and the fight goes on to fall of the checkers.

But the season takes a definite turn in pressures come this Sunday. The one-mile flat oval of New Hampshire Motor Speedway takes center stage.

It marks the start of the summer stretch of ten races leading to the absolute 10-race Chase for NASCAR’s top prize, the Sprint Cup. [read more...]

HOMESTEAD-MIAMI — Jimmie Johnson has accomplished racing’s version of the hat trick…. three championships in a row.

He did it with a 15th -place finish in southern Florida’s grand finale for the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. Carl Edwards won the battle, so to speak, but Johnson won the war.

On a day when he only needed a 36th-place finish to clinch his third title in a row, Johnson brought his Lowe’s Chevrolet into the thick of the battle, steadily clicking off position after position in the 267-lap race.

[read more...]

Jimmie Johnson would just about have to NOT be able to roll off the starting grid Sunday at Homestead to not win a third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup title.

It’s simply his.. to lose

Here’s what he must do to clinch his third consecutive series title — finish 36th or better on Sunday. Additionally, Johnson can clinch by finishing 37th and leading at least one lap or 39th and leading the most laps.

Relax. Just race the track.

“I really think where we are in points is going to allow me to go to Homestead and take a little pressure off my brain this week,” Johnson said. “We can just go down and relax and get in the car and set it up, just do what we know how to do.”

[read more...]

Qualifying Fast Facts
Phoenix International Raceway
Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil

Coors Light Pole Winner: Jimmie Johnson
Age: 33
Team : No. 48 - Lowe’s Chevrolet
Owner: Jeff Gordon
Crew Chief: Chad Knaus

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Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Race No. 9: Phoenix International Raceway

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Carl Edwards keeps chipping away at leader Jimmie Johnson’s point lead.
The deficit is now 106 points. An Edwards comeback with two races remaining would be the largest since the current points system was implemented in 1975.
But it’s not far off, which should keep Edwards optimistic. In 1992, Alan Kulwicki overcame an 85-point deficit over Bill Elliott with two races remaining to win the championship.
Edwards has beaten Johnson by 106 points in consecutive races five times this year.

[read more...]

FORT WORTH, TX. — “It ain’t over til it’s over,” baseball legend Yogi Berra once said.

NASCAR driver Carl Edwards is a believer. First at last weekend’s Atlanta Motor Speedway battle and today at Ft. Worth.

The Missouri native, who cut his racing teeth on dirt tracks throughout the Midwest, dominated the field Sunday to win the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

[read more...]

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — At the same track where he started his phenomenal run to the title last year, Jimmie Johnson distanced himself from his closest pursuers on Sunday, winning the Tums QuikPak 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway.

Johnson won in a cakewalk, leading 339 of 504 laps. His No. 48 Chevrolet was so good on short runs, and so strong off the corners, runner-up Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn’t mount a charge during the green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the race four laps past its scheduled length.

[read more...]