Backstretch Motorsports

KANSAS CITY, KS. (Oct. 4, 2009) — Two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart took two tires on his final pit stop and held off hard-charging Jeff Gordon, a four-time champion himself, at the finish to win the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway Sunday afternoon.

Stewart, a first-year car owner/driver, raced hard all afternoon with the frontrunners and gambled with crew chief Darian Grubb on the two-tire strategy at the end.

“Darian (Grubb, crew chief) made it.” said the driver of the No. 14 Office Depot Chevrolet “We got two tires earlier in the day and were able to go really quick on them so it was pretty much in our opinion a no-brainer of what to do. The guys that took four could just never gain the track position back. We had a really good car on two tires. Darian and these guys on the pit crew, they are the ones that got us the win. They got us track position and I was able to pick which line I wanted on the restart and that won us the race.” [read more...]

Qualifying Fast Facts
Kansas Speedway
Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods
Coors Light Pole Winner: Mark Martin
Age: 50
Team : No. 5 - CARQUEST/Kellogg’s Chevrolet
Owner: Mary Hendrick
Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson [read more...]

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...]

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Sunday, April 26, 2009) - Reigning IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon earned his first victory of the 2009 season, taking the checkered flag in the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway .7104 of a second ahead of Helio Castroneves.

The win was the third in a row at the track by a Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver. [read more...]

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Saturday, April 25, 2009) - Graham Rahal won his second career pole position and his first on an oval, edging teammate Robert Doornbos by three-tenths of a second as Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing swept the front row for the Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Earlier this month, Rahal became the youngest pole winner in major open-wheel racing history at the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, Fla. Two races later, the 20-year-old is on the pole for the first time on an oval. He qualified second at Milwaukee last year. [read more...]

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — It was probably one of the most spectacular finishes in NASCAR history.

Carl Edwards made a suicide run into the third turn underneath race leader Jimmie Johnson. He was determined to win.

Unfortunately, Edwards ran out of track before running into the wall, struggled to maintain control and watched Johnson go back by him for the victory at Kansas Speedway.

[read more...]

Johnson moves into top starting position for Sunday

Jimmie Johnson will start from the pole in Sunday’s Camping World RV 400 at Kansas Speedway after Montoya’s qualifying speed was disallowed.

Montoya turned a lap in 31.368 seconds (172.150 mph) Friday to knock Jimmie Johnson (172.007 mph) out of the top starting spot for Sunday’s race — only to see his time disallowed because the nitrogen gas pressure in the rear shock absorbers of his No. 42 Dodge exceeded the 75 pounds per square inch allowed under NASCAR rules.

As a consequence, Montoya will start 42nd Sunday on an owner points provisional. The pole is the 18th of Johnson’s career, his fifth of the season and his third at the 1.5-mile speedway.

Qualifying Fast Facts
Kansas Speedway
Camping World RV 400 presented by Coleman

Coors Light Pole Winner: Juan Pablo Montoya
Age: 33
Team : No. 42 - Texaco/Havoline Dodge
Owner: Floyd Ganassi
Crew Chief: Brian Pattie

[read more...]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – One word defines the two-race-old 2008 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup: unpredictable.
Two drivers in particular personify that word: Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch.
Biffle became the first driver to begin the Chase with two consecutive wins. He’s now 10 points behind series leader and Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards.

[read more...]

KANSAS CITY, Kan., Saturday, April 26, 2008 - Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Scott Dixon and Dan Wheldon swept the front row starting positions for Sunday’s Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Dixon claimed his 10th career PEAK Motor Oil Pole Award with a four-lap average speed of 213.956 mph (1 minute, 42.3014 seconds). Dixon, driving the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara/Honda/Firestone, will share Row 1 with teammate Dan Wheldon, the defending race winner. Wheldon, the final qualifier, had a four-lap average of 213.641 mph (1:42.4521).

[read more...]