Eighteen year old Joey Logano started from the pole for the second consecutive week in the No. 20, in only his third start in the Nationwide series. The race ended with Logano making history as the youngest Nationwide Series winner ever. Scott Wimmer garnered a second place finish; Mike Wallace and the Gecko came in third!!
”Dave and the guys worked on the car from the minute we unloaded," Logano said. "I didn’t know what we would have going into lap one. We never gave up…loosening up, loosening it up…about the last pit stop, we got it about right. Overall it was a good night. “ Dave (Crew Chief Dave Rogers) told me we were going to win this thing tonight one way or another and I believed him. ..so, with the last twenty laps to go, I was praying for it to stay green. I expected to win at Dover…I’m getting in one of the best cars out there-I have to win races.”
Wimmer, the second place finisher added “We were just free at the end after the last pit stop. We had tight conditions all night long until then. Seems like the only way we could get close to the No. 18 and the No. 20 was to run free. I just stayed free that whole run.”
Coming off of two consecutive Top 10’s, the GEICO Racing team entered the Bluegrass state looking to extend a run that has them rapidly moving towards the Top 5 in the point standings. Success has become a habit for Mike Wallace and the Germain Racing team and the last few weeks have shown that they both expect to win. Unfortunately, as the race wound down, Wallace suffered a couple setbacks during pit stops. When the checkered flag waved over the Meijer 300, Mike Wallace and the GEICO Racing team recorded a 3rd place finish in a hard fought battle that challenged both Wallace and the Germain Racing team.
” The car was really good," said Wallace. "We had a few obstacles on pit road. I’m really happy with the whole Germain Geico team- the best run I’ve had all year; the best run in a couple of years. It’s nice to know you can go out there as a driver and compete with everyone. We found some things in our race cars that have made them run better and we finished third. Wish we could have had a caution with about five to go, so we could have challenged Scott and Joey.”
The Colorado license plate gives away the final destination. Other transporters leave the racetrack and head east on the Interstate, toward North Carolina and the hub of NASCAR nation. But the brown and black truck turns west, on the lonely road toward the only Nextel Cup shop nestled on the front range of the Rocky Mountains.
Furniture Row is owned by Barney Visser, a Denver-based businessman who has fielded cars on NASCAR's top circuit since 2005. The attempt to go full-time has been a difficult one, with the team making just 10 events this season. The organization split with driver Kenny Wallace after the Aug. 12 race at Watkins Glen, failed to make Michigan with Scott Wimmer in the seat, and will have Sterling Marlin in the No. 78 car for this weekend's event at Bristol.
"The common thought is, there are a lot of negative things, maybe all negative things, about being out in that area. What we're finding is, there are some positives," Team Manager Joe Garone said. "Once you have your people, and whether you train them or whether you hire them, once they're there, they're more apt to be focused more on their program. They don't have any race teams there to be interrupting their work or their thought process.
"We've gotten some people from some big organizations to come here, and they were in the same boat that I was -- tired of being in the rat race in Mooresville, where people are jumping ship all the time and all that," Crew Chief Jay Guy said. "This is kind of refreshing, because there are no other race teams around here on this level. You can work on a lot of projects and keep secrets that will help the car go fast from getting out by lunchtime."
They rave about the skiing, and the landscape, and the fact that you don't bump into employees from other shops in line at the grocery store. But the distance clearly presents hurdles, most of them logistical for a team much father removed from eastern races than its competitors. Cars are prepared not two weeks out, but four weeks. Parts have to be ordered a week earlier than they would be for a team based near Charlotte, where many of the sport's vendors are located as well. Cars have to be loaded a day earlier on the transporters, which have to depart the race shop a day earlier than their eastern counterparts.
"The location is not a problem at all, because we have both trucks running up and down the road," Guy said. "You just have to have enough good people in place to where your stuff is done a little ahead of everybody else. Anywhere from like Texas west, we're a lot closer than anybody else."
"Some people, and I've found this surprising, would rather live in Denver than in North Carolina. A lot of skiers and a lot of people who like that dry air. It's not been a bad deal."
"Obviously, you want to compete to run up front," Guy said. "But you've got to be realistic with your goals. Lately, we've fallen short on our goals in qualifying, and haven't really been able to work on anything race-related. But we've got a seven-post shaker machine installed [in Denver], and we're working on that a little better, the guys in the engine shop are working harder and harder to get us more horsepower.
Sterling Marlin will be in the Furniture Row shop in Denver Colorado on Friday for a seat fitting in preparation to drive the number 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet at Bristol on August 25th. Scott Wimmer will be driving for Furniture Row this weekend in Michigan. Could this be a possible pairing for Furniture Row for next year allowing Sterling to run a part time schedule? I still expect Wimmer will drive the fourth Childress entry next year. But if not, he might have a full or part time deal with Furniture Row.
Earlier this year I was doing this fairly regularly. Then I began to blog other things. But recent discussions with JJ have brought this back to mind so I thought I might do it again.
Hey, this is simple. I am not going to make it complicated like JJ does. He can try to baffle you with ####. I just want to show you something that might make you go huh, interesting.
Let's update this a bit though. In order to be consistent with previously expressed views, let's say that NASCAR goes with 11 four-car Nextel Cup teams. Then let's ban the top 44 drivers from the Busch Series so young guns or old dogs can have those seats. So what do we have?
For now let's look at the current Busch standings and simply extricate the top 44 Cup drivers from the field. Then we can see what is left and consider it to be what a potential Busch field might look like if there were no Cup drivers allowed in it. I am going to call it "The Busch Class Standings."
Jason Leffler
Bobby Hamilton Jr.
Stephen Leicht
Mike Wallace
Marcos Ambrose
Scott Wimmer
Steve Wallace
Regan Smith
Kyle Krisiloff
Shane Huffman
Brent Sherman
Mike Bliss
Ward Burton
Todd Kluever
Aric Almirola
Eric McClure
Jon Wood
Brad Keselowski
Jason Keller
Brad Coleman
Robert Richardson II
Kelly Bires
Kevin Hamlin
Timothy Peters
Danny O'Quinn Jr.
Stanton Barrett
Cale Gale
Justin Diercks
Richard Johns
Morgan Shephard
Chase Miller
Brett Rowe
D. J. Kennington
Sam Hornish Jr.
Ron Hornaday
Bobby East
Curtis Davis
Derrike Cope
Kevin Conway
Timothy McCreadie
David Green
Todd Bodine
Mark Green
Guys, if you are real race fans, you have to admit, that would be a really cool field.
Most Interesting Blog, June 16, 2008 (unofficially ) and six other occasions (probably if they still did this). Lisa awarded him Best "breaking news" blogger March 31, 2008. Blog of The Day, Christmas Day, 2007. edhardiman wrote, "Falco's tribute to Rocket Richard reminds us all the stars of today stand on the shoulders of giants..." October 23, 2007. Three Golden Swirrly p00p Awards (Hockey, NASCAR and Use of Graphics), FlyingPig, July 18, 2007. 2007 Memorial Day Weekend Trifecta sponsored by williamwilman . Featured on WFORacingFans April, 2007. "Stylin'" award, Dusty, February 07. "One of ten new bloggers to watch" Dudski, January 2007.
