Busch Wins Russ Friedman 400

Kyle Busch took the lead from Jeff Gordon with about 30 laps to go, and drove away from the field to win the Crown Royal presents the Russ Friedman 400 at Richmond International Raceway. The victory is his third victory of the Sprint Cup season.

Top 5: Busch, Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, and Mark Martin.

Sam Hornish Jr, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears, and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Kurt Busch (12th), Matt Kenseth (13th), Denny Hamlin (14th), Greg Biffle (17th), Clint Bowyer (18th), Carl Edwards (26th), Dale Earnhardt Jr (27th), David Reutimann (28th), Kasey Kahne (29th), Kevin Harvick (34th), and Jimmie Johnson (36th).

Give a call to Sam Hornish Jr. He ran well all night, inside the top 10, and pulled home a sixth-place finish.

Keselowski Wins Aaron’s 499

On the final lap of the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, Brad Keselowski pushed Carl Edwards to the lead, then dipped below him to make the pass. Edwards went for the block, but the two made contact, spinning Edwards.

Edwards’ car’s rear wheels came off the ground. Then, while his cars were in the air, Newman hit him and send him into the catch fence.

The crash collected Ryan Newman.

Keselowski held on to win, with Dale Earnhardt Jr finishing second.

Top 5: Keselowski, Earnhardt Jr, Newman, Marcos Ambrose, and Scott Speed.

Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, Joey Logano, and Jeff Burton finished sixth through tenth.

Notables: Matt Kenseth (17th), Denny Hamlin (22nd), Tony Stewart (24th), Edwards (25th), Kyle Busch (26th), David Reutimann (27th), Jimmie Johnson (30th), Kasey Kahne (36th), Jeff Gordon (37th), Kevin Harvick (38th), Clint Bowyer (39th), and Mark Martin (43rd).

Give a call to Reed Sorenson, Paul Menard, Joe Nemechek, and Regan Smith who all finished in the top 15.

Harvick, Mears To Swap Crews, Chiefs

Richard Childress Racing will swap the crews and chiefs of Kevin Harvick and the no. 29 and Casey Mears and the No. 07 in an effort to improve performance.

The switch is expected to be made after this weekend’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Todd Berrier will move from the No. 29, where he served as Harvick’s crew chief for five years, to Mears and the No. 07.

Gil Martin will move to Harvick’s team. Martin was the crew chief for Clint Bowyer where he made two consecutive Chase appearances.

One of the reasons Mears never performed up to expectations at Hendrick Motorsports was that he never established a relationship with a crew chief because they were bounced around to and from his team.

I hope that’s not happening at RCR. I hope he gets in a season or two with Berrier to see what this kid actually has got.

Labonte To Get New Crew Chief

Yates Racing is also giving Hall Of Fame Racing driver Bobby Labonte a new crew cheif.

Ben Leslie, former crew cheif of Yates’ No. 28 and driver Travis Kvapil, is moving over to the team.

The No. 28 team was performing pretty well, before having to close its doors due to lack of sponsorship.

Current crew cheif Todd Parrott will move to another role within the organization, working with all Yates teams.

Labonte said:

I’m looking forward to working with Ben. He’s done a lot with Ford Racing specifically and I like that he has experience with many Champion drivers. I’m excited to see what we will do together on the track in the next few weeks.

Also, a crew cheif swap was discussed at Hendrick Motorsports.

I guess spring is the season of change.

Martin Wins Subway Fresh Fit 500

Mark Martin drove his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy to victory in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway.

On the final restart, Martin quickly disposed of Ryan Newman, who stayed out, and cruised to victory.

Top 5: Martin, Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Greg Biffle.

Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, David Reutimann, Sam Hornish Jr, and Carl Edwards finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: Jeff Burton (15th), Ryan Newman (16th), Kyle Busch (17th), Brian Vickers (19th), Jeff Gordon (25th), Clint Bowyer (26th), Matt Kenseth (27th), Kevin Harvick (30th), and Dale Earnhardt Jr (31st).

Earnhardt used a pit road gamble to take the lead. But, as a result of staying out, Jr got off pit sequence with the leaders. He never got the caution he needed, and ended up needing to make an extra pit stop. As the handling went away on his car, Jr began losing positions left and right.

Then, Casey Mears and Jr got together and Jr hit the wall, ending his chance for a good finish.

On the cool down lap, Jr spun Mears out. As Jr went down pit road to head to the garage, Mears caught up with him and bumped him several times.

Kyle Busch came out of the pits on the final caution in second place, but a pit road speeding violation dropped him to the back of the pack. He finished 17th.

Gordon Finally Wins At Texas

Jeff Gordon ended his winless streak both in the series (47 races) and at Texas Motor Speedway (16 races) by winning Sunday’s Samsung 500.

Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson finished second.

Top 5: Gordon, Johnson, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, and Matt Kenseth.

Mark Martin, Juan Montoya, Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, and Carl Edwards rounded out the top 10.

Notables: David Reutimann (11th), Denny Hamlin (12th), Ryan Newman (15th), Kyle Busch (18th), Kasey Kahne (19th), Dale Earnhardt Jr (20th), Clint Bowyer (22nd), Kevin Harvick (27th), and Bobby Labonte (40th).

Earnhardt Jr had an eventful day. On lap 221, Jr’s team missed a lugnut and he had to come back in. When he came back in, he missed his pit box and had to come around again. With about 40 laps to go, he was running in the top 10 when he scraped the wall and had to make a green flag pit stop. He went a lap down. He finished 20th.

Kyle Busch cut a tire after making contact with John Andretti. He also was hit with a pit road speeding violation later. He finished one lap down in 18th.