Tony Stewart Weathering the Storm

ATLANTA – Eleventh in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings and 255 points out of the lead, Tony Stewart has none of the worry that typically occupies driver’s minds as they head to Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

The fourth and final restrictor-plate event of the 36-race season is this Sunday at the vast 2.66-mile oval that is Talladega. And while 43 cars jockeying around in a tight pack at speeds nearing 200 mph does produce a few anxious moments for even the most veteran drivers, the anxiety level ratchets up a few notches more in October at Talladega when a championship is on the line.

The Big One, the obligatory multi-car wreck that is as much a part of Talladega as Bear Bryant is to the University of Alabama, has trashed many championship charges while giving life to once dormant title drives.

For those at the top of the standings, namely Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle – all of whom are separated by only 30 points – Talladega is indeed worrisome. But for drivers like Stewart and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, who join Stewart at the bottom of the Chase for the Sprint Cup standings in the 10th and 12th positions, respectively, Talladega is simply opportunity, for there is nowhere to go but up.

Stewart in particular has high hopes for Sunday’s AMP Energy 500. The driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing has finished second at Talladega six times in his 10-year Sprint Cup career. And while the championship points that have come with those second-place finishes have been nice, Stewart can’t put them on display in his trophy room.

But earlier this year in April when the NASCAR Nationwide Series served as the Saturday undercard to Sunday’s Sprint Cup show, Stewart finally earned that long-sought win at Talladega. In a red Joe Gibbs Racing-prepared No. 20 Old Spice Toyota, Stewart started the 117-lap race from the pole and went on to lead five times for a race-high 81 laps to take his second restrictor-plate race win of the Nationwide Series season and his first win of any kind at Talladega. Stewart won the Nationwide Series season-opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in February – the sister track to Talladega.

Now the two-time Sprint Cup champion returns to Talladega ready to bookend that Nationwide Series triumph from six months ago with a win in Sunday’s Sprint Cup race.

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing:

Is the fall race at Talladega slightly more nerve-wracking, because when you’re in the Chase there’s more on the line?

“It is if you’re leading the points. I don’t think for us, with the situation we’re in, that it’s at all nerve-wracking. We’re looking at it as an opportunity to gain some points and positions. We can’t go much lower than where we are now, so unlike the teams ahead of us, we really don’t have to worry about losing points. I really never worried about it. Every time you’re at Talladega you try to take care of yourself and your equipment by not getting yourself in compromising positions that are going to take you out of an opportunity to get you to the end of the race. For me, it’s no different whether the race is in April during the regular season or in October when I’m in the Chase.”

You’ve finished second at Talladega six times in 19 career Sprint Cup races. But you finally earned a breakthrough win at Talladega back in April when you won the Nationwide Series race there. How much of a confidence booster was that win for you, especially in your return trip to Talladega this weekend?

“It’s a different deal in the Cup Series. It’s a different group of drivers and a different competition level. I’m just happy that I got a chance to finally win a race at Talladega. It’s a track that means a lot to me. We’ve got a ton of friends down there and colleagues from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department there too. It’s a place I always look forward to running well because it means so much to me.”

Last year’s October race at Talladega marked the debut for the current generation car at a restrictor-plate race. Now that you’ve had a year to race this car full-time, do you feel you’ve found a better understanding of what you need to be both quick and comfortable?

“At Talladega, it’s still a work in progress, but the cars drive really well there. It’s the one track you go to where handling really isn’t an issue. It’s about getting the car freed up and at the same time making sure it sucks up to the cars in front of it and drafts well.”

As a driver, how much input do you have in making the car go fast at Talladega?

“The race situation is a lot different from practice. You tend to have a much larger pack of cars and that makes a really big difference. But you’re still able to figure out what your car likes and dislikes in the draft during practice. It may not be exactly what you’ll experience in the race, but it’s the closest thing to it. Basically, it gives you an idea of what your car is capable of and where you need to be to make the moves you want.”

When you’re in the draft, how much control do you feel you have inside the race car?

“It depends on the circumstances. You can’t see the air and you hit different pockets (of air). You hit a pocket where you get a real big tow or you hit a pocket where it seems they’re getting a tow and pulling you back, and you just have to play the circumstances. That’s why we spend so much time and run so many laps at practice. You just try getting in different scenarios and try to learn if you get in the middle of the draft, what does it do? Will it give you a push? Will it not give you a push? If you get next to this car, does it suck you up or does it slow you down? That’s why so many guys will stay out for so long in practice. It’s trial and error, but at the same time, it’s like pulling a pin on a grenade. You know through that process that if one guy makes a mistake, the car’s torn up for the race. It’s just a delicate balance of how hard you go, how many things you try, and how much time you spend doing it.”

You’ve been in Sprint Cup for 10 years. When you first started in the series, you seemed frustrated after getting out of the car at Daytona and Talladega because you weren’t used to the draft and that style of racing. Now, you appear to be a master of the draft. Do you feel like you’ve come full circle when it comes to restrictor-plate racing?

“If you’re smart, after 10 years, surely you’ll learn something. We’re not sending a space shuttle to the moon here, so it’s not like it was something that was out of our reach as far as trying to be able to learn. You hope that with 10 years of experience, you’d at least learn enough to keep yourself competitive. I don’t think we’re a master of the draft, but I do feel like we’ve learned enough about it. I think our record speaks for itself for how many laps we’ve led and where we’ve been. We obviously know how to get ourselves in position to win. It’s just sometimes finishing the race off has been the hard part.”

In order to win a restrictor-plate race, you’ve got to have drafting help. How do you get that help? Is it something you develop over time?

“I think it’s more a situation of guys finding the fast cars, and you finding the guys that you know are going to go with you because they know you’re quick. If they go with you, they’re going to get you to the front, which is going to get them to the front. It’s kind of ‘help me, help you.’”

Luck is a term often associated with success at Talladega. Are you a believer in luck?

“Absolutely. This year is proof that you can also have bad luck, too. We’ve just not had any luck all year. It seems like the races that we do get ourselves in good position, then toward the end something bad happens and we get out of that position. I think it’s that way in everything and every aspect of life. You have to have some luck on your side. There are people that you know that just have absolutely rotten luck, and no matter what they do, they just can’t get a break. It seems like in this sport it always comes around. For every bit of success you have, you’re going to have a low moment also, and it’s just weathering the storm and waiting until it gets back on a high note again.”

A Look Back at the Late Model Knoxville Nationals

By Kevin Kovac

Concord, NC — WHAT A FINISH: A former World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion and the tour’s youngest star combined to produce a thrilling ending to Saturday night’s fifth annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals presented by SuperClean.

A bold last-lap charge around the outside of Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway’s third and fourth turns proved decisive for 2006 WoO LMS titlist Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., who turned back a dramatic bid by 20-year-old Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va., to capture the unsanctioned 100-lap event.

McCreadie, 34, pocketed $40,000 for the biggest win of his dirt Late Model career while denying Richards what would have been his first signature, crown-jewel triumph.

“To be honest,” an overjoyed McCreadie said following the memorable A-Main, “I’d be lying if I didn’t think that one wasn’t the best race of my life.”

Indeed, McCreadie had to run his familiar Sweeteners Plus Rocket car for all it was worth to stave off Richards. After three-time WoO LMS champion Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., brought out a caution flag on lap 99 to set up a green-white-checkered finish, McCreadie, who had seized control of the lead after NASCAR Sprint Cup star Tony Stewart relinquished the top spot due to a flat right-rear tire on lap 67, watched Richards slide underneath him to assume command with the white flag flying.

McCreadie let it all hang out rounding turns three and four for the final time, tossing his No. 39 around the extreme outside of the famed half-mile oval. He carried enough momentum – and Richards scrubbed off just enough speed on the inside of turn four – to reach the finish line first.

“We can sit up here and call it skill,” McCreadie said of his on-the-edge pass for the win. “I just stabbed and sticked and it just happened to work out this time.”

Richards, who scored his first-ever victory at Knoxville in a 25-lap semi-feature on Thursday night, could only think about what might have been after settling for a heartbreaking second-place finish worth $20,000.

“When I passed (McCreadie) for the lead I caught some of that oil (from Moyer’s mechanical) that was run in on the bottom of turn four and my car just latched to the ground,” said Richards, who drove his father Mark’s Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket. “I was trying to do the same thing the last lap, but I guess I just missed it. I felt my car start skating a little bit and I knew I was done.

“There’s so many things you should’ve, could’ve done. I just chose the wrong one I guess.”

During the post-race press conference, McCreadie spoke highly of dirt Late Model racing in general and WoO LMS regulars Richards and Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., who finished a close third, in particular.

A question about Stewart got T-Mac talking about the competitiveness of dirt Late Model racing and the drivers in it. He noted that Stewart developed his bid-ending flat tire on lap 67 after the NASCAR invader slid into McCreadie’s door while battling for the lead – a miscue that McCreadie said could have resulted from Stewart’s limited time behind the wheel of a dirt Late Model.

“A lot of people think (Stewart) might be the best there ever is,” said McCreadie. “This division is the best there is in racing right now. You can’t just jump in these things and be perfect.”

As for Richards and Babb, McCreadie gestured toward them and said, “These two guys are class acts. I wouldn’t pick two other guys I’d want to be sitting up here with.”

Morgan Hughes National Open Falls to Rain

Mechanicsburg, PA — Three consecutive days of rain have forced the cancellation of the Morgan Hughes National Open at Williams Grove Speedway for the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. The event will not be made up.

The Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series returns to action on Friday, October 3 at North Central Speedway in Brainerd, Minnesota.

The next televised World of Outlaws event on SPEED will be the Vault World Finals from The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Saturday, November 1 which will air LIVE beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Mishaps with Team Red Bull’s No. 83 Squad Yields 40th Place Finish

Tony Stewart didn’t run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, but he did have a run-in – several, in fact – with Team Red Bull’s No. 83 car during Sunday’s Camping World RV 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City.

Three separate pit road mishaps and one unrelated on-track incident – all with the No. 83 car of Brian Vickers – conspired to leave Stewart 40th when the 267-lap race mercifully ended.

During Stewart’s first three pit stops, Vickers’ No. 83 Toyota – which had the pit stall directly in front of Stewart – blocked the two-time Sprint Cup champion in his stall, thwarting the quick service given to Stewart by his Home Depot over-the-wall team.

The first incident came on lap 49, when just before Stewart was ready to exit his stall, Vickers chopped across the nose of Carl Edwards’ Ford, sending both cars spinning into the pit stall ahead of Stewart. The ensuing gridlock forced Stewart to back up and crank his steering wheel hard to the right before he could motor off pit road.

On the next round of regularly scheduled pit stops on lap 95, Vickers stopped his car short in his pit box, leaving Stewart no room to pull out of his stall once his crew had completed service on the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota. Again, Stewart had to back up before he could leave his stall, negating a stellar 12.83-second pit stop by his crew.

The third and final pit road miscue happened on lap 119 when Vickers’ crew took their time getting back over the wall after they had pitted Team Red Bull’s No. 83 car. As soon as the jack dropped on The Home Depot Toyota, Stewart hit the gas, only to hit the brake milliseconds later as Vickers’ crew stood in his way. Precious seconds were again lost on pit road.

As if that weren’t enough, seemingly cosmic forces brought Stewart and Vickers together again on lap 130, this time off turn four of the 1.5-mile oval.

As Stewart made his way back toward the front of the 43-car field, he had a head of steam coming off turn four. But there in front of him was Vickers, and the closing rate Stewart had upon Vickers was substantial. Slight contact was made between right-front nose of Stewart’s Toyota and the left-rear quarterpanel of Vickers’ Toyota. Stewart tugged his steering wheel hard left, sending his Home Depot machine spinning through the track’s manicured infield grass.

The unscheduled soil aeration courtesy of The Home Depot damaged the splitter on the No. 20 car’s nose. Stewart tried to make some laps at speed, but it soon became apparent that the splitter would have to be fixed if he was going to finish the race.

It was a hard decision, but a necessary one. Crew chief Greg Zipadelli called Stewart to the pits on lap 191 – thankfully, when the No. 83 car was still out on the race track – and instructed his crew to fix the splitter and the brackets that attached it to the bumper. It took six laps, but it was mission accomplished.

Stewart returned to the track in 41st position, gaining only one spot when Martin Truex Jr., fell out of the race with terminal transmission problems.

Stewart’s Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammates – Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch and – finished 11th and 28th, respectively, in the Camping World RV 400.

Jimmie Johnson won the Camping World RV 400 to score his 38th career Sprint Cup victory, his fifth of the season and his first at Kansas. Johnson, who held off a last-lap pass attempt for the lead from Edwards, is now 16th on the all-time Sprint Cup win list. Edwards finished just .280 of a second behind Johnson, while Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top-five. Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, David Ragan, A.J. Allmendinger and Elliott Sadler comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were seven caution periods for 25 laps, with only Truex failing to finish.

All three JGR drivers are represented in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. Hamlin now leads the JGR trio in points, as he picked up one spot and is 10th in points, 243 markers arrears series leader Johnson. Stewart fell four positions and is 11th in the standings, 255 points out of the lead. Busch remained 12th in points and is 311 markers behind Johnson.

With seven races remaining before a champion is crowned following the season-finale Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the top-12 drivers competing for the title are as follows:

1. Jimmie Johnson (5,575 points) 1
2. Carl Edwards (5,565 points, -10) -1
3. Greg Biffle (5,545 points, -30) /- 0
4. Jeff Burton (5,454 points, -121) /- 0
5. Kevin Harvick (5,439 points, -136) /- 0
6. Jeff Gordon (5,432 points, -143) 2
7. Clint Bowyer (5,411 points, -164) -1
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5,385 points, -190) 1
9. Matt Kenseth (5,383 points, -192) 1
10. Denny Hamlin (5,332 points, -243) 1
11. Tony Stewart (5,320 points, -255) -4
12. Kyle Busch (5,264 points, -311) /- 0

Coons Takes Over USAC Sprints Lead From Jones at Winchester

Winchester, IN - While the boss Tony Stewart was having a horrible day at Kansas City, Levi Jones saw his USAC National Sprint Car lead vanish.  Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Okla. won Sunday afternoon’s 30-lap “Winchester Oldtimers Weekend” USAC National Sprint Car race at the Winchester Speedway.

Bacon caught Chris Windom in turn three on the 11th lap and led the final 20 laps to put his Kasey Kahne Racing Mopar/Team ASE Beast/Speedway Mopar in victory lane. The victory was the first in five USAC Sprint races at Winchester for a car NOT fielded by car owner Keith Kunz, whose drivers Darren Hagen and Cole Whitt finished second and sixth. Hagen had won the last two races at Winchester and was followed at the checkered flag by Jacob Wilson, Windom and Tracy Hines.

Jerry Coons Jr. is the new series point leader, finishing eighth Sunday. He leads Levi Jones, who was 12th in Sunday’s race, by only two points going into the Budweiser Oval Nationals at Perris, Calif. Oct. 30-31 and Nov. 1.

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Tracy Hines, 21, Stewart-14.142; 2. Cole Whitt, 67k, Kunz-14.284; 3. Jacob Wilson, 07, Wilson-14.338; 4. Darren Hagen, 67, Kunz-14.401; 5. Chris Windom, 17, Windom-14.425; 6. Brady Bacon, 99, Kahne-14.432; 7. Brian Gerster, 27, Davis/Gerster-14.489; 8. Mike Murgoitio, 80, Murgoitio-14.500; 9. Dakoda Armstrong, 7A, C & A-14.582; 10. Eric Gordon, 51, Bowman-14.583; 11. Jerry Coons Jr., 69, Dynamics-14.637; 12. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-14.676; 13. Brad Sweet, 9, Kahne-14.741; 14. Aaron Pierce, 5G, Goacher-14.850; 15. Brian Gingras, 50m, Ram-14.891; 16. Chad Boat, 30, Boat-14.902; 17. Damion Gardner, 71, Leffler-15.212; 18. Shane Cottle, 4, Contos-15.374; 19. Eddie Kelley, 64, Speed Chasers-NT; 20. #67x, Kunz-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Sweet, 2. Gerster, 3. Hagen, 4. Hines, 5. Boat, 6. Gordon. NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Coons, 2. Pierce, 3. Murgoitio, 4. Whitt, 5. Windom, 6. Gardner. NT

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Jones, 3. Gingras, 4. Wilson, 5. Armstrong, 6. Cottle. 2:03.03

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Darren Hagen, 3. Jacob Wilson, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Tracy Hines, 6. Cole Whitt, 7. Mike Murgoitio, 8. Jerry Coons Jr., 9. Dakoda Armstrong, 10. Brian Gerster, 11. Damion Gardner, 12. Levi Jones, 13. Shane Cottle, 14. Brad Sweet, 15. Aaron Pierce, 16. Chad Boat, 17. Brian Gingras. NT

FEATURE LEADERS: Windon lap 1-10, Bacon 11-30.

NEW NATIONAL SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Coons-1,114; 2-Jones-1,112; 3-Whitt-1,051; 4-Hines-1,005; 5-Cottle-915; 6-Dave Darland-886; 7-Bacon-875; 8-Hagen-874; 9-Sweet-817; 10-Gardner-784.

NEXT NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE: - October 30-31 & November 1 - Perris (CA) Auto Speedway

Rain postpones Williams Grove to Tonight - WoO on SPEED at 8:00 PM

Mechanicsburg, PA - Continuing rain has forced the postponement of the Morgan Hughes National Open originally scheduled for Saturday night at Williams Grove Speedway for the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series until tonight. Time trials are set to begin at 6:45 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.

Full coverage of the Morgan Hughes National Open will air on SPEED on Sunday night beginning at 10 p.m. Eastern, following Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.

Tonight on the SPEED at 8 p.m. Eastern will be the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws event from Knoxville Raceway back on June 15, which saw Shane Stewart battle Donny Schatz for the win. That race will be followed by the World of Outlaws second event from Dodge City Raceway Park that took place on June 20.

McCreadie Over Richards in 5th Annual Late Model Knoxville Nationals

By Stacy Ervin

Tim McCreadie of Watertown, New York, won the 5th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals presented by Super Clean on Saturday, September 27, at the Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa.

The victory was worth $40,000 and he earned every penny with one of the most exciting races ever seen at this speedway in front of a huge and enthusiastic record crowd for this event. The 100-lapper saw drama throughout.

The excitement started before the green flag fell when polesitter and preliminary favorite Darrell Lanigan pulled back to the work area on the pace laps with no power steering. He did rejoin the field and start on the pole, but when the green flag fell, Jimmy Owens took off with the lead from outside the front row.

The first slowdown came at lap four when Steve Francis apparently ran over some debris and his right-rear tire exploded. That sent him up and over in turn four and Terry Casey came along and clipped him. Several cars used the early caution to come to the work area and adjust.

After the green, Owens took off again and was spared from losing the lead when second-place runner Lanigan showed big smoke off his machine and then pulled off the track. Owens came to lapped traffic at lap 15 and that allowed new second-place runner Josh Richards to close.

Just as Richards made his pass in turn one at lap 22, the yellow flag came out negating the move when Chris Simpson slowed. After the restart, McCreadie, who started sixth, closed fast on Owens. The two actually touched in turn one on the 24th lap and that allowed Darren Miller to close on them.

Owens kept the lead while all the action went on behind him as McCreadie, Miller and Richards fought it out. But McCreadie found his groove by the 32nd lap when he raced Owens side by side. He wrestled the lead in turn one the next time and found himself in lapped traffic. Richards also moved by Owens, who then slipped back several spots.

McCreadie had built a pretty good lead as the race progressed towards the halfway mark, but Tony Stewart did not want to be denied in this race and he came on strong. Stewart powered to the lead down the backstretch on the 48th circuit and left McCreadie and Richards behind.

But McCreadie wanted the win too and he put a big slider on Stewart in turn two on the 55th lap. T-Mac even threaded a very thin needle between two lapped cars in turn one to stay ahead of Stewart. During this time, McCreadie had also developed a bit of a push and continually had trouble on the cushion in turns two and four.

The 66th lap was a big turning point for this race when Stewart came upon McCreadie and two banged fenders hard in turn two before Stewart pulled away with the lead. A lap later, Stewart’s right-rear tire exploded and that brought out the yellow flag, handing the lead back to McCreadie.

The next yellow came out when Darren Miller suffered another heartbreak here on lap 70. Running third, he slowed with a broken drive shaft to bring out another yellow. Another yellow came out at lap 72 when Dan Schlieper spun in turn three. Yet another yellow came out at lap 74 when John Blankenship spun in turn two.

After that, McCreadie led the ensuing green-flag laps even as Moyer closed. But the yellow returned at lap 82 when Eddie Carrier Jr. hit the wall in turn two and slowed in turn four.

McCreadie continued to lead after that, even as the wheel-hop problems continued on the cushion in turn four. Moyer gave chase, but his car began to show smoke on lap 90. Richards finally got around him for second on lap 94.

Moyer set up a wild finish when he finally had to concede to his motor and slowed on the track. He made it nearly to the turn-four pit entrance but did not get far enough before he stopped. McCreadie had just taken the white flag, so the caution set up a green, white, checkered finish.

McCreadie took off with the lead on the green, but Richards passed him coming to the white flag and took the lead momentarily. McCreadie raced him down the backstretch, roared out of turn four and came out with the lead under the checkered flag.

Tony Stewart Remembers Paul Newman

KANSAS CITY, Kan.  – The following is a statement from Tony Stewart, two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and former IRL IndyCar Series champion, regarding the passing of film, racing and philanthropic icon Paul Newman.

“Paul Newman was a phenomenal individual who made a profound impact throughout his life. His acting skills are well-known, but equally impressive was his desire to give back and help those who just didn’t get the same shake out of life that we did.

“I got to know him through our time helping build Victory Junction Gang Camp and during my handful of races in the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona. We connected as racers, but Paul’s ideas of what we should do for charity is what really resonated with me the most.

“He set the bar, not only with his giving, but in how he gave. Whether it was through his own line of food products – Newman’s Own – or his work in helping create the Hole in the Wall Camps, Paul did it right, and he did it with class. He’ll be terribly missed.”

Opening Night of the Morgan Hughes National Open Falls to Rain

Mechanicsburg, PA - The opening night of the Morgan Hughes National Open at Williams Grove Speedway for the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series originally scheduled for tonight (September 26) has been cancelled due to persistent rain and will not be made up. The event now becomes a one-night race with the winner on Saturday night receiving $50,000.

The Morgan Hughes National Open will air LIVE on SPEED on Saturday night beginning at 8 pm. Eastern.

Donny Schatz, the two-time defending series champion has won the race each of the last two seasons and has four career wins in the famed event. Steve Kinser, the 20-time Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series champion also has won the Morgan Hughes National Open four times in his career.

Stewart Starts 41st on Sunday? What the Heck Happened?

I don’t understand this at all.  I missed seeing Tony’s qualifying run for Sundays race but how in the world could he be 5 mph slower than Jimmie Johnson?  According to Jayski.com he was 3.45 seconds slower than in practice.

I can understand if he nearly wrecked or something but the only comment I can find on the internet is that he just ran slower.

Just ran slower?  The only car that was slower than him was Johnny Sauter, one of the two drivers that didn’t make the race.  That’s right, one of the drivers that didn’t make the race was faster than Tony.

I just don’t understand.

If you saw the qualifying and know anything more, leave me a comment on what you saw.  I can’t believe that they could run that bad without there being a good reason.