Check out the carnage from the “Big One” at the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega.
Race: Saturday, May 2, 2009 in Richmond, VA
Title Sponsor: Crown Royal
Scheduled Green Flag (approx): 7:43pm/et
Television Coverage: FOX 7:00pm/et
SPEED’s NASCAR Raceday Pre-Race Show: 5:00pm/et with John Roberts, Jimmy Spencer, Kenny Wallace
Scheduled Race Re-Air Dates/Times: Wednesday, May 6 at 12:00pm/et on SPEED
Announcers: Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds
Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda
Hollywood Hotel: Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond
TV Listings, Links and Info:
Jayski’s TV Listings Page
NASCAR on TV
Race Fan TV
This Week – Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius XM Satellite Radio
mrnradio.com
sirius.com
Practices: Friday, May 1, 12:00 – 1:30pm/et, TV-SPEED
Happy Hour ‘Final’ practice: Friday, May 1, 2:00 – 3:30pm/et, TV-SPEED
Qualifying Draw: Friday, May 1, 11:00am/et
Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-42, Friday, May 1 at 5:40pm/et, TV-SPEED, re-air at 12:00am/et;
AND live via radio at MRN Radio and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio.
Sirius Satellite Radio:
#48 Jimmie Johnson Ch. 121
#14 Tony Stewart Ch. 122
#18 Kyle Busch Ch. 125
#24 Jeff Gordon Ch. 126
NASCAR Officials Ch. 130
#?? Fan’s Choice Ch. 127
Voting for this week’s Fan’s Choice ends Friday at 5 pm ET
Nascar TrackPass
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RaceView
Fox Sport’s Racetrax
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Yahoo.com Live Chat and Leaderboard
April 25 – – It should have stayed in mothballs. In the first race for the Pepsi Challenger in 1983, Darrell Waltrip drilled a dirt bank at Daytona Internaional Speedway, careened back on the track and hit the retaining wall. Twenty-six years later, Jeff Gordon’s day in the Pepsi Challenger was hindered by the same effect — a major wreck on the track. Gordon was involved in a lap 7 wreck at Talladega Superspeedway after being clipped by Matt Kenseth. The front and rear of the car was destroyed. Repairs were made and Gordon finished in 37th. He dropped to 2nd in the series points standings.
Read more at www.gordonline.com
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IS THERE ANY CHANCE YOU CAN GET THE CAR BACK OUT? “I think this is the same way this Pepsi Challenger ended up in ’83. So it sure didn’t look good. It was driving good. We were having a good time there. I was actually working well with Matt (Kenseth) getting up to the front through the middle. I am not really sure what happened. I was just kinda cruising along there in the middle. Matt got up there, I think behind, maybe the No. 11 and he went low and so I was just cruising on up the middle.
“Matt went down with the No. 1 car and I guess what it was, whoever that was on the inside, I don’t think, there just wasn’t enough room. He got underneath Matt, Matt came up and I was already there.
“The car is destroyed. That is Talladega. I don’t know if we are going to be able to fix that. I know these guys are going to work real hard to try and get it back out there and get some points. Just unfortunate.
“There are so many different grooves to race out there. Matt went low so I was just going to go up the middle, it had been working so well for us up to that point. Somebody got to the inside him and closed the door.
“Things were going well, we were having a good time. Just cruising up the middle. Matt got hooked up with the No. 1 car. They started to go low and I think somebody got inside of them just as I was getting to the outside or up the middle of Matt. I don’t if he knew I was there, didn’t know I was there or what happened. But, I just got squeezed and started a big wreck.
“I didn’t see anything out of line. There was nothing. I don’t think that wreck was caused by over aggressive driving. I mean, every race and every wreck I look to see what I could have done different. Looking back on it, I wish I would have just stayed behind Matt. But that is always hindsight. We’re sitting here. It is unfortunate. It is not obviously going to be the day we were looking for.”
Carl Edwards comments on the the final lap of the Aaron’s 499. Edwards goes on to say that someone will get killed before Nascar changes the double yellow line rule. Edwards blocked Keselowski coming to the checkered flag which resulted in Edwards getting turned around and flipped airborne into the fence in spectacular fashion by Ryan Newman. There were 8 minor injuries to fans in that area of the crash.
Here is the call from Fox as it occurred:
The jury is still out on the visual beauty of the new retro Pepsi scheme Jeff is running this weekend at Talladega but if this new “one time” look is for you then the Jeff Gordon store has some merchandise you might like.
We don’t make any profit from this, we’re just passing the word on to you.
http://jeffgordon.shop.sportstoday.com/Dept.aspx?cp=1062_16559&page=1
Race: Sunday, April 26, 2009 in Talladega, AL
Title Sponsor: Aarons
Scheduled Green Flag (approx): 2:16pm/et
Television Coverage: FOX 1:00pm/et
SPEED’s NASCAR Raceday Pre-Race Show: 11:30am/et with John Roberts, Jimmy Spencer, Kenny Wallace
Scheduled Race Re-Air Dates/Times: Wednesday, April 29 at 12:00pm/et on SPEED
Announcers: Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds
Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda
Hollywood Hotel: Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond
This Week – Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius XM Satellite Radio
Practices: Friday, April 24, 2:00 – 3:00 pm/et, TV-SPEED
Happy Hour ‘Final’ practice: Friday, April 24, 3:30 – 4:30pm/et, TV-SPEED
Qualifying Draw: Friday, April 24, 1:00pm/et
Qualifying: 2 laps for positions 1-42, Saturday, April 25 at 11:10am/et, TV-SPEED, no scheduled re-air;
AND live via radio at MRN Radio and Sirius XM Satellite NASCAR Radio.
Then the cars will be Impounded after qualifying
Sirius Radio:
Driver List Coming Soon
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Apr 21, 2009
By Geoffrey Miller
In one of the best statistical finds of the weekend, ThatsRacin’s Jim Utter noted during his race preview for Saturday night’s race that each of the three longest winless streaks of Jeff Gordon’s career were followed up by two consecutive wins.
That trend ended brutally Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway.
But despite a disappointing night filled with tire rubs and pit road problems that led to a 25th-place finish, should the No. 24 team have something more important — like the health of their driver — to worry about later in 2009?
Gordon started fourth and looked to continue Hendrick Motorsports’ winning ways himself Saturday night [of course, his teammate Mark Martin stretched the HMS winning streak at PIR to five] but, as mentioned, numerous problems stopped that quest.
After the race, Gordon cited the pit road errors as a problem. Those on-track problems, though, weren’t the only thing holding up the No. 24.
“It just wasn’t our night. We struggled,” said Gordon. “I haven’t been feeling good this weekend. My back is hurting. When you’re feeling like that, you can’t really give good information and feedback to the team.”
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that Gordon’s back has been an ailment to him, but in the few times he’s mentioned it during interviews and press conferences in 2009, it’s mostly been referred to as a problem in the past tense or one that slowed him in 2008.
But now, we’ve heard that the pain might be affecting him on-track in the here and now.
It’s not a great time, either, to be facing some back issues as a NASCAR driver seeing as the season is hitting stretch where the next 12 weekends will have racing action and eight of the 36 races have been completed.
Certainly back issues can be a hindrance to on-track performance because the pain often just simply doesn’t go away and the movements required in a race car can be taxing over the course of a race.
Of course, this problem might be just a small blip on Gordon’s otherwise excellent season so far, but without a doubt it’s got to be a slight cause for concern.
source: motorport.fanhouse.com
Jeff narrowly escapes an incident with Robby Gordon at the Subway Fresh 500 at Phoenix.
April 19 – – Jeff Gordon battled handling issues for the balance of the Subway 500k at Phoenix International Raceway. However, what looked like a solid top-10 finish became a 25th place effort due to a late mistake by the pit crew. At the front of the field, Mark Martin scored the third consecutive victory for Hendrick Motorsports. It was Martin’s 36th career win and first as a member of HMS. Gordon still holds the points lead heading to next Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Read more at www.gordonline.com
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The missed lug nut incident can be heard at the -4:00 mark in the audio.
April 18 — Hendrick Motorsports drivers have won four straight races at Phoenix International Raceway, with #48-Jimmie Johnson visiting Victory Lane during the last three events. #24-Jeff Gordon won the April 21, 2007, contest after starting from the pole position. During the last eight races at the track, Hendrick Motorsports drivers have claimed five victories and five pole positions. Last November, Jimmie Johnson made track history by becoming the first driver to win three consecutive races at Phoenix International Raceway. On Saturday, the three-time and defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion will attempt to extend that history with a fourth consecutive Phoenix victory – this time in the SUBWAY Fresh Fit 500. Gordon, who ended a 47-race winless streak on April 5 with his first victory at Texas Motor Speedway, now has 82 in his career. He stands one behind fifth-place Cale Yarborough on the all-time victories list and only two away from tying Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for third. Jeff will start 4th in tonight’s race.
Other Hendrick Drivers Starting Positions:
Mark Martin – 1st
Jimmie Johnson – 10th
Dale Jr. – 15th
(Hendrick Motorsports PR)(4-15-2009)
AVONDALE, Ariz. (April 14, 2009) – Fifth place is Jeff Gordon’s goal at Phoenix International Raceway – in career NASCAR Sprint Cup wins.
Gordon, who ended a 47-race winless streak on April 5 with his first victory at Texas Motor Speedway, now has 82 in his career. He stands one behind fifth-place Cale Yarborough on the all-time victories list and only two away from tying Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for third.
While Team DuPont’s win at Texas was their first in more than a year, they may not have to wait long for their next celebration if history is any indication. In 2002, Gordon ended a 31-race winless streak with a victory at Bristol. One race later, the team was celebrating again after a victory in Darlington.
During the 2003 campaign, Gordon snapped a 22-race winless streak at Martinsville. He won the next race at Atlanta. And in 2007, Gordon entered this event without a victory in 25 races. He collected win No. 76 that night, tying Dale Earnhardt for sixth in all-time victories. You guessed it – he won the following event at Talladega. Overall, the driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet has won consecutive events 22 times.
“It was nice to get that win at Texas,” said Gordon, who is leading the standings by 162 over teammate Jimmie Johnson. “The victory there had eluded us for so long.
“But it’s also good to get that first win of the season out of the way. Every season, you’re looking to get that first win. When you get that one off your back, you can breathe and relax.
“Every win confirms you have what it takes, and it gives you confidence.” Confidence heading to a track where the No. 24 team has performed well in the past. Along with his 2007 victory at the Arizona track, Gordon has three poles, eight top- fives and 15 top-10’s in 20 starts. Another win would be another milestone in his 17-year career.
“I’ve accomplished more than I ever thought I would in this sport,” said Gordon. “To be in the same neighborhood as some of the all-time greats of NASCAR just blows me away.
“I’m sure they had the same feeling when winning a race. Once you’ve accomplished that, you want to win again.”
And again. And again.
Source: www.motorsport.com
