My first nascar race and my son covered it.

Busch’s last-place Pocono finish tightens standings
BY DANTE TERENZIO
AND DONNIE COLLINS
STAFF WRITERS
06/09/2008
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LONG POND — Only one thing could have happened in order for Kyle Busch to lose his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points lead at Pocono Raceway on Sunday.





Jeff Burton had to win the race, and Busch needed to finish dead last — which had to be considered a near impossibility considering Busch has 10 top-10 finishes and four wins in 14 races this season.

But after a collision with Jamie McMurray on lap 47 and a late-race spinout that drew a caution flag, the near-impossible happened.

Busch finished dead last, and Burton’s fifth-place finish helped him narrow Busch’s lead to just 21 points after Sunday’s Pocono 500.

“I saw (McMurray) get high, get loose and thought he faded back further than he did when (AJ Allmendinger) passed him,” Busch said. “We broke the mirror trying to adjust it before the race, and I couldn’t see anything out of my right quarter panel. So, I couldn’t clear myself.”

Things weren’t all wrecks and dwindled lead for the Busch family, though.

Former series champion Kurt Busch, Kyle’s older brother, brought out the second caution of the day when he spun his No. 2 Dodge going into turn 1.

Busch was running in 11th at the time, but he guided the Blue Deuce back through the field quickly and earned an eighth-place finish — his best result since finishing second in the season-opening Daytona 500. “It’s been a long year without a top-10,” Busch said. “So, maybe it’s time.”

Sweat persistent

Brian Vickers and Denny Hamlin loped into the media center some 15 minutes after the race, both colorless and sweat-soaked.

“I am about to fall over,” Vickers admitted. “It’s brutal.”

With temperatures pushing 90 degrees at the wave of the green flag, the Car of Tomorrow was presented with another issue in what has been a season of firsts: Oppressive heat.

The fact that more than a few drivers had to regain their senses after the race is hardly a surprise to Hamlin, who said he knew when he first started testing in the new car that heat would be a problem.

“These cars are way hotter than the old car,” he said.

He blamed poor ventilation and an exhaust pipe that runs closer to the floor panel, which naturally would raise more heat into the car’s cockpit.

Whatever the cause, Vickers says more long races in heat like this should force NASCAR to make changes.

“Double and away, they’re too hot,” Vickers said. “The problem is, as a team, it’s competition. We want to keep the cars light and go fast. But we’re killing ourselves. We’re going to the infield care center to get IVs after the races. I mean, that’s ridiculous. NASCAR needs to step in and do something to cool these cars down and help us.”

Bad day for starters

It was a dismal day for rookie drivers. Especially Sam Hornish Jr.

The former Indianapolis 500 champion’s No. 77 car was involved in three accidents on the day — all of which occurred in turn 1. He finished 42nd, ahead of only Kyle Busch. Worse yet, he didn’t make the transition to stock car racing any easier for a few of his fellow converts from the open-wheel ranks.

During his first wreck, on lap 57, he collected Patrick Carpentier. On lap 68, Hornish wrecked again — and, again, got Carpentier involved. The hat trick came on lap 130, and he took Dario Franchitti’s car out — “Maybe his breaks failed, or his brain failed,” Franchitti would say later.

“A pretty bad day for us, for sure,” Hornish added.

Poconotes

Bad break for Tony Stewart. The driver of the No. 20 Toyota was penalized for going too fast exiting pit road on lap 171. He went into his stop in 13th place, and thanks to the pass-through penalty, he went a lap down and wound up finishing 35th. ... A flat left rear tire may have cost Carl Edwards a shot at race winner Kasey Kahne. Edwards had the lead when he pitted on lap 178, but his tire went flat after leaving pit road and he was relegated to a ninth-place finish. ... The race was red-flagged for just under eight minutes on lap 72 because of a passing rain shower that passed over the Tunnel Turn.

Contact the writer: sports@timesshamrock.com I'm so proud

 

Very cool...........

 

Good article - hopefully, he gets the big "brake" he needs to make it in the business.