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Dale Earnhardt Jr. turned in the fastest lap at 48.364 seconds (186.089 mph), to claim the pole for next weekend’s Daytona 500. Jeff Gordon is second and each will lead the pack in the two dual races on Thursday at the restrictor-plate superspeedway as the rest of the qualifying field is set.
2010 Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray did not qualify well and will start 12th in the 2nd Dual. Columbia native Carl Edwards will also race in the second, starting in 7th in the 125 mile race, or 50 laps.
Carl Edwards says he will still be able to race in the Nationwide and Sprint Cup races this weekend in Atlanta, despite a broken right foot. Edwards was in Columbia playing frisbee with his friends when the freak accident took place.
This will obviously go down as one of the goofiest sports injuries. Edwards said in a statement, "I know this probably sounds ridiculous…I can hardly believe it myself. I was playing frisbee with a couple of buddies and I put my foot on it, my friend dove for it and the next thing you know…we all heard a pop."
With two races left before the Cup Chase, this is certainly something he didn’t want to have happen, but he’ll wear a protective boot. The big question will be…any backflips if he wins?
Columbia native Carl Edwards passed Marcos Ambrose on the final lap to win the Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200, for his first road race win one of NASCAR’s top three divisions. Edwards picks up his third win of the Nationwide season and trails Kyle Busch by 129 points with ten races remaining.
Ambrose was in the lead when NASCAR called the eighth caution of the afternoon after a shower hit the race track as the cars were on Lap 59. Two laps later, NASCAR ordered the cars to pit road and red-flagged the race while crews mounted rain tires and installed wipers and lights.
They restarted on Lap 64 and Ambrose held off Edwards through three cautions in the remaining laps with Edwards making his move in the final corner.
Polesitter Brian Vickers ran out of gas at the end of Sunday’s Carfax 400 at Michigan International Speedway, but not until after he crossed the finish line.
Jimmie Johnson wasn’t so lucky.
Despite a concerted effort to save gas, the reigning and three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Johnson ran out of fuel with just over two laps left in the race. When Johnson ducked onto pit road, he handed the lead to Vickers, who had been riding in Johnson’s wake.
"That’s what I’m talking about!" Vickers exulted after crossing the finish line ahead of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. "Great call, guys. Great job."
Vickers’ win was the second of his career, the first for Red Bull Racing and the first for Toyota at Michigan. Vickers, Johnson and Gordon last came to the pits on Lap 149. Earnhardt, on the other hand, stopped under caution on Lap 159 and rocketed toward the front after a restart on Lap 162.
Vickers pressured Johnson over the closing laps, and Johnson, who led 165 of 200 laps, ran out of fuel less than five miles short of the finish for the second time this year at the 2-mile speedway.
With Vickers just outside the top 12 in the standings — with the top 12 drivers after 26 races qualifying for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup — crew chief Ryan Pemberton’s call to keep Vickers on the track in fuel conservation mode was a risky one.
Columbia’s Carl Edwards ran with the pack to finish fourth and move up two spots in the Chase standings to fourth with just three races to go before the Chase.
Crown Royal will serve as the primary sponsor for Matt Kenseth and his 17 car next NASCAR season as Kenseth moves over to Roush-Fenway. With his arrival, that means Jamie McMurray will exit.
With NASCAR require teams to be limited to four drivers, McMurray is the odd man out for owner Jack Roush who will team Kenseth up with Columbia, MO native Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, and David Ragan.
McMurry has just two career wins and this season has managed just two, top 10 finishes as he sits in 20th place in the Sprint Cup Standings. There were some who thought perhaps Ragan, who is currently 30th would be let go, but Roush-Fenway sees Ragan’s age and upcoming potential as a big plus over McMurry who hasn’t progressed as well as perhaps the team had hoped.
