Stewart Wins All-Star Race

Tony Stewart passed Matt Kenseth in the closing laps of the final segment and began pulling away, winning the All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon each won one of the first three segments. Sam Hornish Jr and Jamie McMurray won the Sprint Showdown and both raced their way into the All-Star Race.

Joey Logano was the fan vote, and also raced in the All-Star event.

Top 10: Stewart, Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, Logano, McMurray, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jimmie Johnson had a strong car, but he hit the wall hard in one of the segments. He also made a late pit stop for tires. He never really recovered.

Kyle Busch had a strong car, too. He was great on the restarts, getting good runs on Kenseth both outside and inside. He made a daring three-wide move to the middle on one of the restarts that earned him the lead, but his car faded in the closing laps of the final segment.

Ryan Newman had an up and down night. In the first segment, he went a lap down because something broke in the car, and was hitting the race track. Johnson would not pass him in the final laps of the first segment, keeping him one lap down instead of putting him two laps down. Newman got the free pass. The team fixed whatever was broken, and Newman recovered to take the lead in the final segment. But, he made contact with Kyle Busch, who made contact with Jeff Gordon (resulting in Gordon spinning). The contact cut down Newman’s left rear tire.  He finished 18th.

Sam Hornish Jr got loose inside of Greg Biffle, and the two made contact and hit the wall, ending Biffle’s day. Biffle finished 21st, and Hornish finished 16th.

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.

Calls To Replace Eury Jr May Get Louder

With Mark Martin’s victory in Saturday night’s Subway Fresh Fit 500, and teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr’s subsequent dismal performance, the callings for Tony Eury Jr’s head are sure to get louder.

The calls have been prevalent all season, leading Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick, and then Jr himself, to defend his cousin and crew chief. The No. 88 team is struggling, and is often the worst of the Hendrick cars. The No. 88 team is the only Hendrick car without a victory this season, and the team is inconsistent at best.

While I believe Eury Jr is part of the problem, all of the blame, can’t go to him. Dale Jr. has had his share of pit road mistakes. He had two pit road errors at Daytona, he had one at Texas, and he had one on Saturday.

An ill-handling car is not helping matters. He crashed Saturday because of an ill-handling car, and he scraped the wall in Texas on older tires, ending his chance for a good finish.

Maybe next year we see Dale Jr and Alan Gustafon. No one knows that yet, but for now Jr and Hendrick are committed to Eury Jr. We’ll see how it all plays out, but at this point, if the driver and owner have confidence in him, that says a lot.

As the series heads to Talladega, a track where Jr had five wins in a row, maybe this is the week where the team turns a corner.

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.