Coca-Cola 600 Race Results
Casey Mears gambled on his gasoline, and it paid off. He makes his first Nextel Cup Series Win.
Complete Race Results are available HERE
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Dario Franchitti Wins the 91st Indianapolis 500
In 2002, Dario Franchitti contended the Indianapolis 500 was an interruption of his CART schedule. It was the Scotsman’s first foray to the historic 2.5-mile ribbon of asphalt with then-Team Green, and “I just didn’t get it.”
Five years removed, Franchitti is the Indianapolis 500 champion.
“Who would have thought it?” said Franchitti, whose rain-soaked firesuit didn’t dampen his enthusiasm as he chugged the traditional winner’s bottle of milk in Victory Circle. “I can’t believe it. It’s the Indianapolis 500.”
The Andretti Green Racing driver inherited the lead on Lap 155 when teammate Tony Kanaan pitted, and the No. 27 Canadian Club Dallara/Honda/Firestone splashed across the finish line under the yellow/checkered flag combination on Lap 166 as rain doused the cavernous facility.
Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon was runner-up, while pole sitter and two-time 500-Mile Race winner Helio Castroneves of Team Penske finished third. Sam Hornish Jr., who last year gave team owner Roger Penske his 14th Indy 500 title, finished fourth and Ryan Briscoe in the No. 12 Luczo Dragon Racing car (a Team Penske satellite program) rounded out the top five.
Franchitti’s sentiments about the “500″ began to turn in 2003, when he competed full time in the IndyCar Series with Andretti Green Racing. He finished where he started (sixth) in 2005 and last year advanced 10 positions to finish seventh.
“When we came here in ‘02 we were in the middle of a very busy time with the Champ Car schedule,” Franchitti said. “We had just swapped from Reynards to Lolas (chassis) and we decided we were going to do the Indy 500 in a car we had no knowledge of. It was a heck of a month. Days I wasn’t on track here I was testing a Lola at Mid-Ohio (Sports Car Course), so I literally had no day off all month.
read the rest at indycar.com
Complete Race Results here
XM Radio - a fan’s perspective
XM Radio has had a bad week, maybe even two weeks.
First, the deal with Opie and Anthony, which many people blew out of proportion. I believe that XM has the right to do with it’s MULTI-MILLION dollar talent whatever it wants to do. I also believe that those people who cancelled because of O&A will be back, at a higher monthly fee more than likely. It was, of course, their right to cancel.
How sad if O&A where the only thing on XM that they listened to. XM has the live broadcast of EVERY MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL game, LIVE. It has play by play of ALL NHL games through the Stanley Cup. It has Indy Car, ESPN Radio and Dale Jr LIVE. Cal Ripken has a show. XM Public Radio. 60 Commercial Free Music stations (if you can’t find music you like here, it does not exist).
For people who like O&A uncensored comedy, they have XM Comedy 150, a completely uncensored comedy channel.
XM has Oprah & Friends, Air America, Fox News Talk, Traffic and Weather for 21 Major Metropolitan Areas, Fox News, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, ABC, BBC, The Weather Channel, CNN Headline News, CNN en Espanol and CSPAN.
XM has original shows that bring the biggest names in music, comedy and sports into their studios.
I have had an XM Radio for 3 yrs and cannot live without it. Remind again, what does a commercial sound like? Whatever your politics are , you can find them talking your way on an XM Channel. Need news - got you covered 24/7 on 6 or more different channels.
Record Gas Prices - Are you feeling gouged?
As of yesterday, gas prices are the highest in U.S. history—we just passed the 1981 record, even adjusted for inflation.1 Prices could reach $4.00 per gallon in parts of the country, just in time to crimp summer vacation plans. As consumers suffer, the oil industry continues to reap the windfall—breaking profit records on an almost quarterly basis. It’s outrageous!
Enough is enough. Hearings start today on H.R. 1252, a House bill that would make gas price gouging a federal crime, punishable by 10 years in prison. Speaker Pelosi has said she’ll move the bill to a vote this week—if there’s the two-thirds majority required to fast track the bill through the process.2
Oil company lobbyists are frantically trying to stop the bill. Your representative needs to hear from you today. Will you sign our petition asking Congress to pass the price-gouging bill—and then send it to your friends?
“Gasoline price gouging should be made a federal crime before the summer price increases hurt more American families.”
Sign the petition:
http://pol.moveon.org/stoppricegouging/?rc=oil_petition&id=10387-6330836-PS4iKQ&t=4
Rep Bart Stupak (D-MI), sponsor of the House bill said this of his motivation to introduce the legislation:
“In April … crude oil was $7 a barrel cheaper than last year (but) gas prices were almost 50 cents a gallon higher. Clearly there’s more at play than simply the world crude oil market.” 3
In April, more than two-thirds of Americans reported that their gas bills were causing financial crunches, with a full third saying it was having a “serious” impact on their families.4
That same month, the top two US companies, Exxon-Mobil and Chevron-Texaco, announced a combined $14 billion in first quarter profits.5
It seems like even the oil industry has gone too far this time, and it’s time to balance the scales. The Senate passed a price-gouging measure out of committee last week, and the House bill now has over 100 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle.
The oil industry is nervous. They’ve sent their lobbyists to the Hill in full force to stop—or at least weaken—these bills, and they’re pulling out all the stops. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry front group of more than 400 oil and gas companies, even threatened that new laws could increase gas prices more.6
Enough is enough. This summer, we can stop Big Oil from profiting at the expense of American families. Can you sign the petition to ask your representative to make gasoline a price gouging a federal crime now?
Sign the petition:
http://pol.moveon.org/stoppricegouging/?rc=oil_petition&id=10387-6330836-PS4iKQ&t=5
Don’t forget to pass it on to your friends—this week is an historic opportunity to send Big Oil a message that we’ve had enough.
Thanks for all you do.
–Ilyse, Natalie, Eli, Tom, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007
Sources:
1. “U.S. gas prices jump more than 11 cents,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 21, 2007
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2595&id=10387-6330836-PS4iKQ&t=6
2. “Debate on [H.R. 1252], offered by Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak, D-Mich., will kick off Tuesday with a hearing in Stupak’s subcommittee. It is possible that an Energy and Commerce markup will follow. But Democratic leaders might opt to bring the bill up to the floor under suspension of House rules by Wednesday.”
Excerpted from National Journal’s Congress Daily, Monday, May 21, 2007
3. “Lawmaker Links Gas Prices to Investments,” Houston Chronicle, May 16, 2007 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4810598.html
4. “As Gas Prices Rise Again, Democrats Blame Big Oil,” Washington Post, May 11, 2007 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2591&id=10387-6330836-PS4iKQ&t=7
5. “Lawmaker Links Gas Prices to Investments,” Houston Chronicle, May 16, 2007 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4810598.html
6. “Lawmakers’ blood pressure rises with prices at the pump,” TheHill.com, May 17, 2007 http://www.moveon.org/r?r=2586&id=10387-6330836-PS4iKQ&t=8
Harvick holds out for $1 Million Bounty
Kevin Harvick earned another $1 million payday Saturday night, winning the Nextel All-Star Challenge after Matt Kenseth got caught speeding and brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch took each other out of contention.
That made Jimmie Johnson, a two-time All-Star race winner, the last driver for Harvick to contend with.
But Johnson barely mounted a challenge, staying in line behind Harvick until the final lap at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Johnson made one attempt at a pass, Harvick blocked it, then drove off to his second win of the season.
Harvick’s other victory also was a jackpot — he earned $1.5 million for winning the season-opening Daytona 500.
“To win a Daytona 500 and the All-Star race, that’s pretty cool,” Harvick said in Victory Lane.
Harvick, who was second to Johnson last season, scored his first All-Star victory in seven tries and gave car owner Richard Childress his first win in the non-points event since Dale Earnhardt in 1993.
“You are the man,” Childress radioed Harvick.
It capped a hugely successful weekend for Childress, who said Friday he had formed an engine alliance with Dale Earnhardt Inc. Then AT&T won an injunction to get its logos placed on RCR driver Jeff Burton’s car.
The car has been sponsored by Cingular, but AT&T has been fighting to get on the hood since the two companies merged. NASCAR denied the request, citing its exclusivity agreement with series sponsor Nextel, but a U.S. district judge allowed RCR to put the AT&T logo on the car Saturday morning.
Mark Martin finished third and was followed by Burton, Tony Stewart, Johnny Sauter and Kenseth. Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Martin Truex Jr., who got into the race by winning the Nextel Open, rounded out the top 10.
Kenseth had the field covered, leading 37 laps and winning the first and third segments. But he was flagged for speeding off pit road as he tried to beat Jeff Gordon out after the last stop.
“I got so busy with those other cars, I looked down and I was 200 [RPM] over,” Kenseth said.
The All-Star race is usually good for some drama, and it came 18 laps from the finish when brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch wrecked each other.
Kyle Busch, who led 23 laps over the first three segments, was trying to pass his older brother on the inside when Kurt Busch drifted down and the two made contact. Kurt Busch surged ahead, Kyle Busch spun, tapped his brother, and both cars bounced off the wall
“I was waiting for the day when we got together, and we did, and we were racing for a million bucks,” Kurt Busch said. “That was a bummer, to have my little brother pull that move on me. Maybe I should have given an inch instead of taking an inch from him, but hey, that’s what the All-Star race is all about.
“We’ll see what we can do to discuss it, but right now I’m not eating any Kellogg’s anytime soon.”
While Kyle Busch was back in the garage, things fell apart for mighty Hendrick Motorsports.
Winners of eight of the last nine points races, Hendrick saw three of its four cars fall out of contention in a matter of minutes. Gordon got a flat tire to fall off the pace, then Casey Mears and Denny Hamlin made contact to bring out the third caution of the race.
It left Johnson, the defending race winner, as Hendrick’s only hope. And after three mediocre segments, it didn’t appear he would challenge for the win.
But he was in third after the Busch brothers wrecked and wasted little time working into second while Martin settled into third.
It stayed that way for several laps, as neither Johnson nor Harvick stepped out of line. Only when Harvick appeared to have it in the bag did Johnson make his move.
“I kept chasing him on the bottom, trying to force him to make a mistake, but he drove a solid race,” Johnson said. “On the last lap I thought, ‘I’ve got a cushion behind me, let me just try it.’ After 1 and 2, I got right to the 29’s bumper and I was like, ‘Why didn’t I try that a lot sooner?’ But that’s racing.”
Gordon is HOT - wins at Darlington
As steam poured from his engine, Jeff Gordon figured his chance at victory had gone up in smoke.
Any other season, it would have. But in this year of near-perfection for Hendrick Motorsports, nothing ever goes wrong.
And Denny Hamlin is pretty sick of it.
Gordon overcame an overheating engine — he said with five laps to go there was no way he’d make it to the finish — to race to his third victory of the season Sunday at Darlington Raceway. Hendrick has won four consecutive races, eight of nine overall, and remained perfect in the five Car of Tomorrow events.
“I can’t believe that thing lasted,” Gordon said of his motor, which had thick steam streaming out of it for the last hour of the race. “There’s no way that thing should have ever made it.”
When it did — even though Gordon gambled and didn’t make a final pit stop when most of the field did with 23 laps to go — Gordon won for the third time in four races and maintained a 231-point lead on Jimmie Johnson in the Nextel Cup standings.
“That’s the way you win races right there,” said Gordon, a seven-time Darlington winner. “What an amazing year we’re having.”
One that Hamlin was a little bitter about after his second-place finish.
Hamlin, who led a race-high 179 laps, suffered when his crew dropped a pair of lug nuts on a late pit stop. It cost him a shot at running for the win, and he has finished second or third in four COT races.
It was extremely frustrating for Hamlin, who has led a series-high 563 laps in the five races the car has been used.
“We gave away another one to Hendrick Motorsports,” Hamlin said. “It’s a shame. This has got to end. We have to win a race sooner or later. Everybody will talk about how Hendrick won another race, but this was our race.”
Hamlin was also critical of NASCAR for not calling a caution for obvious debris in the closing laps. Had the yellow flag waved, Hamlin was confident he would have beaten Gordon.
“Somebody’s entire fender and underbody was on the racetrack,” Hamlin said. “I literally pumped my fist in the car ’cause I knew a caution was going to come out. And of course, if caution comes out, it’s game over. Instead, Hendrick gets another break.”
Even Gordon admitted that NASCAR should have thrown a yellow. But he didn’t complain because he believed a debris caution with 17 to go — when Gordon had a huge lead — was bogus.
“There absolutely should have been a caution there at the end — but there shouldn’t have been one before it,” Gordon said. “There at the end — debris, oil, everything you can imagine — was on that racetrack and that comes back to the inconsistency. I am glad they didn’t throw it at the end, but I didn’t understand why they threw it earlier.
“It can work with you or against you. [Sunday] it worked for us.”
Rain washed out the race Saturday night and it was rescheduled for Sunday, making it the first NASCAR race run on Mother’s Day since 1986. Although Gordon’s mother left the track when it appeared his motor wouldn’t last, he was still able to celebrate the win with his pregnant bride.
Gordon and wife Ingrid Vandebosch are expecting their first child — a daughter — at the end of June and this was her last race before the birth.
“It was fantastic to just think that here in about six or seven weeks, she is going to be a mother,” Gordon said. “She had a little tear in her eye, definitely her emotions and the hormones are flowing right now.
“She knew, too, that this was her last weekend to travel before she has the baby, so I think that meant a lot to her to be able to pull that off before she’s stuck at home for a little while.”
Johnson, last week’s winner, finished third for Hendrick. Ryan Newman was fourth, followed by Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. capped a frenzied week that began when he said he’s leaving DEI at the end of the season by finishing eighth.
But Earnhardt said strong support from his crew kept everyone focused.
“My guys said, ‘We’re behind you,’ and that took it all away,” he said. “We focused on the car, we drove the car and we had a good time this weekend. I had no pressure, nothing really on my mind other than what we were supposed to be doing.
“I was surprised. I thought it would be a little more of a distraction.”
Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton, teammates at Richard Childress Racing, rounded out the top 10.
Gordon’s radiator was on the verge of busting for the latter part of the race, with thick steam blowing from under the hood as he ran second to Johnson.
But a caution with 23 laps to go changed the race, with Johnson ducking onto pit road while Gordon gambled to stay out. Gordon took over the lead, Johnson restarted in seventh, and no one came close to challenging Gordon again.
Johnson thought he would quickly work his way back to the front on new tires, but had no regrets after traffic prevented the defending champion from scoring his fifth win of the season.
“New tires always pay off here,” Johnson said. “If I was back in that position, I think I would go for tires again.”
Gordon never felt confident that his engine would go the distance. He got terrific jumps on every restart, needing the air to cool down his motor, and said he didn’t pit with his teammate because he worried the engine would overheat during the stop.
Unser gets "BUMPED" from Indy 500
Al Unser Jr. was once the guy to beat at Indy. Now, he’s just one of the drivers trying to get in the show. The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner was bumped from the field on Sunday, the second of four days of qualifications for the May 27 race.
Unser qualified early on the 2.5-mile oval, posting four-lap average of 220.963 mph that left him vulnerable to being bumped out under the new procedure that limits the number of qualifiers during each of the first three days of time trials to 11.
He spent a nervous couple of hours before John Herb (who finished 27th in 2001 in his only Indy start) knocked Unser out of the field with a 221.070 run, just 30 minutes from the end of the session.
Herb was then bounced out of the field for the second time Sunday by 1996 Indy winner Buddy Lazier, who bumped his way back into the lineup by improving his speed from 220.452 to 221.380.
That left Lazier “on the bubble” as the 22nd and slowest driver in the partial lineup. Jaques Lazier, got out just before the final gun in an effort to bump his older brother, but pulled back onto pit road after one lap at just over 220.
Indianapolis 500 to be telecast in HD
via EngadgetHD.com
In yet another installment of “it’s about time that went HD”, we are kinda excited to announce that for the first time ever, the Indianapolis 500 will be presented in HD this Memorial day. While NASCAR enjoys so much success, — and HD coverage for almost four years — the so called greatest spectacle in racing finally gets the HD treatment. The main race as well as shows on qualifing days will use 53 cameras, — hopefully all HD — and required a significant financial investment to make it happen.
