Pocono winning Keselowski

In the closing laps of the Good Sam RV Insurance 500 at Pocono Raceway, Kurt Busch was running third, with his teammate Brad Keselowski leading and his younger brother, Kyle, running in second.

Keselowski ran the whole race, overtook rival Kyle Busch for the lead after the final caution, then drove away for his third career win.
The heroes are the guys who died in Afghanistan.
We’re not saving the world or curing cancer, I just drive a race car.”
Busch and Keselowski have had serious conflicts in the past, but even Busch gave credit.

Kurt Busch outran Jimmie Johnson for third, with some bumping and banging leading to a show of temper on Johnson’s part after the race.
“That’s just good, hard racing,” said Busch. “That’s what the fans pay good money to see, hard racing. “I have no problem racing hard. Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Paul Menard completed the top 10.

Kevin Harvick beat Kyle Busch to the checkered flag in the rain-delayed Camping World Truck Series race earlier in the day.

NASCAR notes,Carl Edwards

Carl Edwards will trim his Nationwide Series schedule next year to spend more time with crew chief Bob Osborne and their Sprint Cup effort.

The 31-year-old driver has 34 career Nationwide wins and won the 2007 title for Roush Fenway Racing. He’s run the full Nationwide and Cup schedules for the past seven years, one of the most taxing schedules in NASCAR history.

“The racer in me wants to run the Truck Series, the Nationwide Series, and the Cup Series every week. (Five-time Cup champion) Jimmie Johnson doesn’t run (many) Nationwide races.”

Edwards hasn’t set his ’12 schedule, but it likely will include only Nationwide companion races at Cup venues. Until he abruptly decided to skip Road America in June, he had run 210 consecutive Nationwide races. He was scheduled to fly from Pocono to Newton, Iowa, on Saturday afternoon for Saturday night’s US Cellular Nationwide 250.

I’ll run Watkins Glen almost certainly; there’s a huge benefit to the Cup Series. Instead of leaving Infineon Raceway on Saturday to run the Nationwide race, he stayed and spent more time with Osborne and their Cup car.

NASCAR new Hampshire

Entering Sunday's Sprint Cup event at Nascar New Hampshire Motor Speedway, eight races remain before the Chase. For the first time, the 11th and 12th spot in the playoff are decided based on wins for drivers ranked in the top 20. Drivers will tell you they always try to win in every race.

"If I could win a race, I'd win a race,"Dale Earnhardt Jr. said Friday. Earnhardt could use a victory. The difficulty and the pressure will mount as the Chase approaches if a team needs a win to get in. If a driver is inside the top 10, points racing might be the best option -- playing it safe and having a good finish to earn as many points as possible.

If a driver is outside the top 10, taking a few risks to try to win becomes the best option as the races wind down before the Chase.

"The single-race winners this year will change the dynamic of the points.

"Last year we were that one-race win team that would have made it with this year's type of points system. So yeah, we want to win."

David Ragan, who won at Daytona two weeks ago, is the only driver outside the top 10 that would make the Chase right now based on wins. Stewart is 11th and winless, but he's only two points behind Denny Hamlin in 10th.

Burton’s No. 31 Chevrolet was seventh or better in both practice sessions on Saturday and Burton holds the most track records at NHMS – most wins (four), most laps led by a race winner (300, September 2000), least laps led by a race winner (two, July 1999) and race record (2:42:35 and 117.134 mph, July 1997).

In 32 Cup races at the track, Burton has four wins, eight top-five and 13 top-10 finishes.

Clint Bowyer put the trophy from last year’s victory at Nascar New Hampshire in his house.Bowyer is stuck in 12th place again, a spot that, thanks to NASCAR’s revamped points system, puts him outside the Chase field.Eight races remain until the Chase field is set.Bowyer and his Richard Childress Racing team have huddled at the shop for solutions.

2011 Iowa: NASCAR Truck Fina,Review

Rookie Cole Whitt topped the speed charts in Friday night’s rain-shortened final Happy Hour practice round for the Coca-Cola 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Iowa Speedway.

Coming into Saturday night’s race, Johnny Sauter leads the 2011 Iowa: NASCAR Truck Fina points race by 23 points over Whitt and 25 over Dillon.

All three of NASCAR’s touring series are in action this weekend as the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series head to New Hampshire while Camping World Truck Series teams visit Iowa Speedway for race number eleven on their 2011 schedule.

Wins NASCAR Daytona David Ragan

DAYTONA BEACH, FLA.

David Ragan’s victory in the Coke Zero 400 was sweet revenge.

After NASCAR black-flagged Ragan when he was leading the Daytona 500 with two laps to go, he watched his first career Sprint Cup win slip away.

Ragan drafted with Roush Fenway Racing teammateMatt Kenseth, who won the 2009 Daytona 500 under the direction of Blickensderfer. Ragan took the lead in the No. 6 UPS Ford on Lap 162 during the restart after the first of three wrecks erupted in the closing laps of the race. And Kenseth committed to pushing Ragan to the finish.

You just won it.’

We should be 13th in points. We've got good tracks coming up. So I'm happy about the win. At the start of the season, Jack Roush put Ragan on notice. Jack Roush was “hopeful” that Saturday’s win could turn the tide.

While UPS would not offer definitive plans for Ragan’s future, the sponsor did offer props Saturday night.

“We’re very proud to have David Ragan as UPS Racing’s brand ambassador and are excited to congratulate him on his first win,” said Ron Rogowski, UPS vice president, sponsorships & events. Under Blickensderfer’s direction, Ragan, 25, has made solid gains this season. “Coming back here and to get that win here at Daytona is that extra little bit that I wanted,” Ragan said. “Kind of to show the Daytona race track ‘Here’s what we’ve got.’

POINTS HIT

The No. 99 Ford team refused to quit Saturday night, but a chain of unfortunate circumstances resulted in Carl Edwards losing the points lead to Kevin Harvick.

Red Bull Of NASCAR

The Economy Has Hurt NASCAR Racing

The economy has hurt not only race fans but NASCAR as a whole. More needs to be done to reduce the costs of NASCAR racing because it costs millions of dollars just to operate one race team for a season. Reducing the number of laps that are in a race, reducing the number of NASCAR races in a season and reducing the field from 43 cars to 36 are possible solutions to helping teams deal with poor economic conditions.

I actually do not fault Red Bull for wanting to stop being a NASCAR sponsor.

According to a recent Associated Press report published by ESPN, Austrian energy drink maker Red Bull will pull out of the NASCAR Spring Cup Series at the conclusion of this season.

According to anonymous sources, a "Red Bull" team official traveled to The Helluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 at Michigan Speedway to brief automotive industry big-wigs on Red Bull’s decision to pull out of NASCAR.

While Red Bull has had some success in other sporting ventures, NASCAR hasn’t been one of them. Red Bull’s NASCAR venture hasn’t been anywhere near as successful. Red Bull’s two-car team debuted in 2007 with Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger at the wheel. The other theory on why Red Bull would be leaving NASCAR might have to do more with NASCAR than Red Bull.

The NASCAR Silly Season got a lot more interesting Monday.

With the news of Red Bull’s impending departure from the sport, the driver/team/ownership landscape for 2012 takes on new colors.

Red Bull’s decision to abandon NASCAR also puts driver Brian Vickers – already a name under discussion – front and center in Silly Season talk. The Red Bull team released a statement late Monday afternoon confirming that officials are “currently seeking outside investors as we evaluate next steps in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The Red Bull team has run Toyotas since its arrival in the sport for the 2007 season. Vickers and AJ Allmendinger were the team’s drivers in Red Bull’s first NASCAR season. Red Bull has only one Sprint Cup win – a victory by Vickers at