Racing News Daily » Entries tagged with "Aaron’s 499"
A New Champion, Surprise Winners and Broken Records Highlight a Storybook Season
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. \ – “You come at the king, you best not miss.” – Omar Little, The Wire. From the 2007 season – Jimmie Johnson’s first as a defending champion – through 2010, exactly 100 drivers started at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. All took aim at Johnson’s throne. All missed. A shocking victor claimed NASCAR’s most famous race to open the 2011 season, as Trevor Bayne, 20, became the youngest driver to ever … Read entire article »
Filed under: Sprint Cup
Late Accident Ends Busch’s Chances for Victory at Talladega
Kyle Busch was in the top-10 for much of Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, but a late-race accident on the backstretch forced him to settle for a disappointing 35th-place finish. Talladega and its sister track, Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, are the only two restrictor-plate tracks on the NASCAR schedule. At Talladega, as was the case in the season-opening Daytona 500, drivers had to align themselves in two-car drafts to make any headway toward the front of the field. The system creates a dicey game of bumper cars that sometimes leads to drivers involuntarily spinning out their drafting partners. Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Pretzel Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), was a victim of that dicey game of bumper cars as his … Read entire article »
Filed under: Sprint Cup
Johnson nips Bowyer at the line to win at Talladega
By Reid Spencer Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala.—At the end of 188 laps and 500 miles, Jimmie Johnson won Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 by inches, tying a record with his razor-thin .002-second margin of victory. With a push from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr., Johnson edged Clint Bowyer in a wild four-wide finish at the 2.66-mile track. The victory was Johnson’s first of the season, his second at Talladega and the 54th of his Sprint Cup career, tying him with 2011 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Lee Petty for ninth on the all-time list. The winning margin tied Ricky Craven’s victory over Kurt Busch at Darlington in 2003 for the closest since the introduction of electronic timing and scoring in 1993. Jeff Gordon ran third and Earnhardt fourth, as Hendrick drivers claimed three … Read entire article »
Filed under: Sprint Cup
NASCAR Notebook: Radios will play a key role at Talladega
By Reid Spencer Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service TALLADEGA, Ala. – Gone are the days when the only voices a driver could hear on his in-car radio were those of his crew chief and spotter. At Talladega this weekend, most drivers also will be able to communicate with teammates and potential drafting partners in order to deal with the two-car hookups that have become commonplace at restrictor-plate tracks. Many teams have added a second radio just to handle the extra traffic. As a trial run, Kevin Harvick will be able to tune to multiple channels in his No. 33 Nationwide car in Saturday’s Aaron’s 312, but he’s not sure he’s comfortable with the concept. “It seems like everybody has just gone that way,” Harvick said of the expanded opportunities for communication. “My Cup car is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Sprint Cup
NASCAR Sprint Cup Aaron’s 499 Race Results
Less than a week after sponsor Shell/Pennzoil announced its departure from Kevin Harvick’s No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet at the end of the season, Harvick won his first points race in the series since his first event in Shell colors—the 2007 Daytona 500. Harvick beat Jamie McMurray to the finish line by a scant .011 seconds, while Juan Montoya, Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin rounded out the top 5. The full race results: … Read entire article »
Filed under: Sprint Cup
Last-lap move powers Harvick to Talladega win
TALLADEGA, Ala. – In a race that set NASCAR Sprint Cup Series records for the number of leaders (29) and lead changes (88)—and fanned the flames of the increasingly combustible rivalry between teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon—Kevin Harvick broke a 115-race winless streak in Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Sprint Cup
Better To Be Lucky AND Good at Talladega
HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. – The word “luck” is often thrown around by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers on a week-to-week basis as a way to explain how a certain race turns out. While top competitors also believe that you make your own luck by preparation at almost every racetrack NASCAR’s top series competes at, there’s one particular racetrack where a team truly needs to be lucky and good. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Sprint Cup
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