Jamie McMurray turned his debut in the No. 17 CitiFinancial Ford Fusion into a weekend to remember after fighting rainy skies and an exhausting double-header to finish 6th in Monday’s Stater Brothers 300 at California Speedway. The wait was well worth it as McMurray held the CitiFinancial Ford Fusion in the top-10 for the majority of the day and went on to finish 6th for his first top-10 of 2008.
When the green flag dropped, McMurray fought hard to keep the CitiFinancial Ford Fusion close to the top-10. After a strong pit stop, McMurray restarted the race 5th on lap 52.
“It’s pretty good, I just need it to run green,” said McMurray.
The CitiFinancial Ford Fusion was 3rd on lap 80 when McMurray started reporting on loose conditions. The CitiFinancial Ford Fusion was fighting traffic around 15th place when the next caution came out on lap 106. With only eight laps on the current set oftires, crew chief Drew Blickensderfer decided not to make a pit stop, a call that led to McMurray restarting the race in the lead with 40 laps remaining. He fought hard to remain in the top-10 and when the checkered flag flew McMurray crossed the line 6th for his first top-10 of the season.
“The CitiFinancial Ford Fusion was really good for most of the day,” said McMurray.
NASCAR’s version of ‘follow the leader’ featuring NASCAR Preseason Thunder testing continues at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Jan. 30-31. Drivers and teams from the NASCAR Nationwide Series will descend on the track in the Nevada desert one day after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series completes its two-day test session there.
As NASCAR’s premier series moves to California Speedway for its final round of NASCAR Preseason Thunder. Wednesday’s travel day affords double-duty drivers the opportunity to test their NASCAR Nationwide Series cars at Las Vegas. More than 40 drivers representing more than 30 NASCAR Nationwide Series teams are expected to participate. Double-duty drivers who continue to California will share their rides with teammates or substitute drivers so the preparation process can keep going for the seven 1.5-mile tracks on the 2008 series schedule.
The Las Vegas test will feature seven former series driver and owner champions and some drivers who did not take part in the NASCAR Preseason Thunder sessions at Daytona, including regulars Mike Bliss (No. 22 Supercuts/Family Dollar Dodge) and Bobby Hamilton Jr. (No. 25 Smithfield Foods Ford).
While there has been a public and media frenzy on whether his teammate will run a full schedule or not, Joe Nemechek is quietly off to his best start in the Nextel Cup Series. Driving the No. 13 CertainTeed Chevrolet for Ginn Racing, Nemechek enters this weekend's Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in seventh place in the point standings. It's the highest-ever standing position for the 13-year Cup veteran entering the third race of the season. With Nemechek holding down seventh place in the standings, it gives Ginn Racing two drivers in the top 10. The other top-10 Ginn driver is points leader Mark Martin, whose 2007 racing schedule has been the center of media speculation.
"Mark has been a huge asset to the Ginn Racing team," said Nemechek. "He has assisted all of us in many ways, including his valuable input with the car setup. Both teams -- our No. 13 and Mark's 01 -- are off to strong starts and the plan is to keep it that way. And the No. 14 (Sterling Marlin's team) has had good performances, but bad luck has hurt them."
"I know Mark has been getting pestered pretty hard with the same question about his upcoming schedule," continued Nemechek. "But he's a pro and will handle the attention with the same kind of ease as he does with a race car. We're all happy for his success - nobody deserves it more." Nemechek earned his way into NASCAR's exclusive top 10 with finishes of ninth and 14th in the first two races of the season at Daytona and California Speedway in Fontana.
FONTANA, Calif. (Feb. 23, 2007) - Driving a No. 24 DuPont Cromax Pro Chevrolet, Jeff Gordon, captured his career-second pole position at California Speedway on Friday. He will lead the field to the green flag in Sunday's Auto Club 500. "This DuPont Cromax Pro Chevrolet has been awesome ever since we unloaded off the truck," Gordon said. "We do that because of a lot of hard work by the guys at the shop on this race car, from the aerodynamics to the geometry, and of course under the hood with this Hendrick Motorsports horsepower.
Riding a wave of momentum from last week's Daytona 500 runner-up finish, Mark Martin and the U.S. Army team will start Sunday's Auto Club 500 on the inside of the second row. Martin's 01 Chevrolet laid down the third fastest lap in Friday's qualifying session at California Speedway. Kasey Kahne was second at 185.519.
For a while, the accomplishments of Kyle Bush were attributed to precocious driving. His mistakes? Simply youthful error. Now, starting his third Nextel Cup season and approaching 22, Bush is ready to be judged strictly on his merits. Bush had a good week at Daytona, but a rookie-like miscue on the last lap of Sunday's Daytona 500 ruined everything he had built to that point. Bush will start 12th on Sunday and looks to have a better finish in Fontana.
A tangle on a late-race restart with second-place driver Ron Hornaday sent Mark Martin sliding through the grass and opened the door for Mike Skinner just enough to allow the 1995 Craftsman Truck Series champion to slide through and claim the lead. Skinner made a clean restart with two laps remaining and was able to hold off Hornaday to take the 20th win of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career. A native of nearby Ontario, California, Skinner becomes the first home state driver to score a Truck Series victory at California Speedway. "I am going to make sure I find my teammate Tyler Walker tonight and pick up some of that 360 OTC," Skinner joked in victory lane. "We're going to go back tonight and celebrate, so we may need some hangover relief in the morning!"
Mike Skinner
While Skinner was all smiles after the race, he knew exactly where he needed to be in the final laps in order to put his No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota in the winner's circle.
"I knew my best chance to win the race was going to be the restart," Skinner said. "If they got together, or even if they didn't, I knew the restart was it. If they went down into one side-by-side, I was going to get a good run on them down the frontstretch and slide down on the inside in turns one and two. My truck was great down there all night long. But they ended up getting together and I drove hard until I heard the spotter call for the caution.
"I was ahead of Hornaday and I knew when they went back to the scoring loop we'd be the leader. But it wasn't over, I had the King of Restarts Ron Hornaday on my back bumper. I had to be smooth. I could have held it wide open in one and two on those last two laps but I just barely burped it. Once I got to the backstretch and I was leading, I knew we had enough horsepower under the hood of our Toyota to hold him off."
Mike Skinner
Martin was pragmatic in defeat. The No. 21 Bad Boy Mowers Ford led the race three times for a total of 45 laps and seemed to have victory within his grasp until the restart with four laps remaining.
I don't know what happened," Martin said. "All of a sudden the motor revved up and the wheels started spinning and I got behind on the steering. That was a lot of fun. It was awesome, but (NASCAR) has got to get their cautions there at the end."
Two-time series champion and fellow California native Hornaday was regretful about the contact with Martin, but the driver of Kevin Harvick's No. 33 AES HR Solutions Chevrolet said he had no other option. "I knew what Mark was doing," Hornaday said. "He slowed it down just enough so that I would have to get off the gas and flood the carburetor with fuel.
But, I drag the brake on the restarts so I don't spin the tires. When he slowed down, I got up under him and the bumpers didn't line up. If they did, all I would have done is shoved him down the straightaway. But it lifted the tires off the ground and he lost it.
Mark Martin
I feel bad about it because Mark doesn't race me that way and I don't race him that way. In all my years racing with Mark, that may be the first time we've ever gotten together."
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Mike Skinner
Mike Skinner
Mark Martin
