Hello again Nascar fans.I am thinking Mark Martin must have started his day off right with some Kellogg’s cereal! What a night for Mark Martin! Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Happy mother’s day to all the mom’s out there. I thought it was awesome how all the mom’s were out at Darlington last night to cheer their sons on. It was awesome. Way to go MOM!!! Three cheers for all mom’s everywhere.
How about Mark Martin this season? Can you believe it? I hope this is only the beginning of many more wins for the seasoned veteran. I would love to see Mark win the championship this season and with the way he has performed thus far, I would say that may not be such a far fetched idea after all. I understand that Mark will be continuing his run for Hendrick Motorsports next year as well. Way to go Mark, I know that every fan who has ever watched the sport probably feels the same way. I can’t think of a nicer more upstanding person to win races and do well this season. Go Mark!!
Well last night was the return of the Southern 500 to Darlington Raceway. The race has been notably absent from the season roster since 2004. Not only did it mark the return of the race to this track, but also celebrates 60 years of racing history. Congratulations to Darlington Raceway, here’s to another 60 years of racing history.
Well the race started off uneventful enough, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon leading the pack around the track after the call to start their engines was given by none other than the Nascar drivers’ moms. How cool was that? But it was short lived as the first caution, of a record 17 for the night, was out for a couple of cars getting together in turn one. Matt and Jeff continue to lead the field exchanging the lead between them until a few laps later Jimmy Johnson comes from behind and takes the lead easily from Gordon. However only a lap or two later on lap 21, Michael Waltrip found himself spinning around bringing out the second caution of the night and the first of two involving Michael Waltrip.
Then on lap 74 here comes the second caution involving Waltrip when his engine blew and an oil fire erupted under the car which looked a lot worse than it actually was according to Waltrip afterwards. He said he knew it was on fire and at first was alarmed but quickly noticed the flames fading and falling behind him as the car spun. He was okay and caution 4 lasted some ten laps for clean up before heading back to green flag racing. During the caution pit stops are taken and the new leader emerges is Kasey Kahne. Kasey who? It seems that’s what a lot of folks are saying these days as it seems Kasey has fallen off the radar. But he ran a good race and I was glad to see him leading some laps last night. Remember Kasey won the All Star race last year at Lowe’s so he should have a good couple of runs coming up what with the All Star race and the Coke 600 coming in the next two weeks. We cant wait for that, but that’s for later.
Things remain quiet for a while, a few lead changes and a couple of cautions for spinning and cars getting together but nothing spectacular. Lead changes were between Kahne, Greg Biffle, and Martin Truex Jr. At the half way point, caution 7 comes out on lap 185 for David Ragan who spins and slams the wall in turn 2. Then just a few short laps later, Ragan cuts a tire and slams the wall in turn 3 bringing out caution 8 for the night. Wow, back to back cautions for Ragan who by the way was okay after all that banging around.
Lap 201 and racing is once again under way. Biffle is leading the field this time by. However that didn’t last long either and after the ninth caution Matt Kenseth takes the lead temporarily and surrenders the lead to Truex when he enters pit road for service. Truex continues to lead the race until caution 11 for debris and at that time Biffle retakes the lead. Caution 12 comes out when Mc Murray has some issues with brakes and tires and at that time Ryan Newman inherits the lead briefly but it’s rookie Joey Logano who wins the race off pit road this time and leads the race.
Joey continued leading when caution 13 comes out when Carl Edwards hits the wall hard and cant get to pit road. Well, at least not the “conventional “ way as Carl does a u-turn to get to pit road and is held for a one lap penalty by NASCAR for doing so. Whoops. Well I am not sure it was a smart move, but it was definitely original. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone make a u-turn during a race before!! Haha.
Truex regains the lead when the lead cars pit following the 14th caution of the night. Then on lap 322 race strategies started to unfold. After a record 15 cautions on the night, several drivers decided to play the fuel gamble game and stayed out. At the head of that pack was Mark Martin. On lap 325 Mark led the field to green and never looked back. Through two more cautions for a record breaking 17 cautions during the race, Mark held off Jimmy Johnson who at one point about ten laps or so from the last lap radioed to Chad Knaus that they “had nothing for him” and to let Mark go. I couldn’t believe it. The second win for Martin in just a couple of weeks and for the season thus far. Congratulations Mark Martin. All I can say is what a run, what a race. Give it up to my boys over at Hendrick Motorsports. They are really kicking ass and taking names this season! Now if Jr. could just jump on board that winning train, Hendricks will be complete. He is the only Hendricks driver who has yet to win this season. Although if he ran like he did at Talladega every week, I think he probably would have already won a race this season. I still have faith in you Jr., make us proud!
The top ten for the Southern 500 are as follows:
Mark Martin 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet
Jimmy Johnson 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet
Tony Stewart 14 Old Spice Chevrolet
Ryan Newman 39 US Army Chevrolet
Jeff Gordon 24 DuPont Chevrolet
Martin Truex Jr. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet
Brad Keselowski 25 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
Greg Biffle 16 3m Ford
Joey Logano 20 Home Depot Toyota
Matt Kenseth 17 DeWalt Ford
Well that’s quite a showing for Chevrolet. Seven of the top ten finishers were driving Chevrolet. Go Chevy!! That’s pretty cool for us Chevy lovers. Haha.
In other news this weekend, Jeremy Mayfield and two others have been suspended indefinitely after random drug tests came back positive. Jeremy and two others, Tony Martin who works for the #34 team that Tony Raines drove for last night and Ben Williams who was a part of the winning Nationwide team of Matt Kenseth on Friday night. There were no specifics given as to what type of substances were abused by the individuals involved, but Nascar did say that the violations involved more than just alcohol use. Jeremy Mayfield said that he respects all the laws and rules that Nascar has placed on them and is working with Nascar to try and get himself reinstated. Jeremy also stated that he feels that his positive test result was a direct result of prescription medication that he had been taking and an over the counter medication that combined to give him a positive drug test result. Mayfield says that he and his team will continue to work closely with Nascar to resolve the matter as there is no appeal that can be filed in these cases as per Nascar rules and regulations.
Well that’s about it for now fans. I will be back on Wednesday for the mid week report on Lowe’s and the All Star Race. I went to the All Star Race last year, but this year I am going for the Coca Cola 600. I can’t wait to go. I really like Lowe’s a lot. It’s a great track. Well have a great week everyone. I’ll see you on Wednesday Nascar fans.