Well, the first chase race is now in the books and man what a race it was.  Even with ABC coverage (my local cable company doesn’t have our ABC affiliate in HD), it was a good watch.  Qualifying was rained out so the field was set by points which put Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards on the front row.  Kyle went into the chase first and from the start had problems.  He had mechanical problems and, after a spin, was involved in a crash with Jamie McMurray on lap 84.  His finish put him back in the 8th chase slot.

I was listening to Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and Jack Roush’s post race press conference and one thing really struck me.  First I should set this up a little.  As I mentioned, Jamie McMurray and Kyle Busch got together, ending Jamie’s day.  Jamie wasn’t the only Roush-Fenway driver to have problems.  Matt Kenseth was taken out also in a crash in lap 220.  During the conference, Jack said that even though Carl and Greg had done so well, he would still have trouble sleeping because of what happened to Matt.  I swear, it’s almost like Jamie doesn’t exist at Roush-Fenway.  It seems that Jack often forgets that Jamie drives for him at least for the time being.  I can only imagine that the reason that Jack neglected to mention Jamie is because he isn’t in the Chase but that’s got to tear the hell out of a teams morale.  I don’t think I’ve heard yet if Jamie is going to be at Roush-Fenway next year. 

Carl and Jimmie are tied in the lead of the Chase with Carl shown in the first slot.  Greg Biffle’s win brought him up to the third slot and you can check out the entire field here.

(Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)

Today’s ARCA Carolina 500 didn’t disappoint.  I almost felt goosebumps as I tuned into Speed to watch today.  Sadly, I have a big day at work tomorrow so I wasn’t able to head down to watch the race at the track but, I do plan on going to the Hooters Pro Cup race in late October.  The race was caution filled but still fun to watch.  No real surprise that Joey Logano took home the trophy.  One of my absolute favorites, Ken Schrader came in second.  Here’s the results from ARCARACING.com

Courtesy: Anderson Speedway

ANDERSON, Ind. (May 3, 2008) – The World’s Fastest High Banked Quarter Mile heated up a chilly Saturday night as Josh Poore won the Ed Martin Chevrolet SuperTrucks feature, Jeremy Johnson captured the Newco Metals Legends main event, Jeff Saxon earned the Quick Auto Front Wheel Drive Pro and Ranny Hinton scored the ImmediaDent Figure 8’s 25-lap feature.
 
Josh Poore won the Ed Martin Chevrolet SuperTruck feature, being the first event on the bill. Jerry Faucet led the first 25 laps with Ronnie Rose, Poore, and Smokin’ Joe Beaver running nose to tail as the top four. Poore took the lead five laps later and opened up a sizable lead on his way to the win. Beaver made his way up to second, Jerry Faucet wound up third, Ronnie Rose finished fourth and Mark Livesay took fifth.
 
The Newco Metals Legends feature was the next event with Jeremy Johnson winning. Adam Roberts led early on in the race but never could get away from the field. Johnson found a way around Roberts on lap 17 and never looked back on his way to his first win of the 2008 season. Roberts ran second, Bryan Knuckles finished third, John Robbins was fourth and Mark Dietzen rounded out the top five.
 
Jeff Saxon ran away from the field on his way to winning his first Quick Auto Front Wheel Drive Pro Division feature. Saxon assumed the lead after Andy Keller caused a caution on the first lap, and never looked back. Keller finished a distant second, Jared Keller wound up third, Randy Owen took fourth, and Harry LaShure capped the top five.
 
The ImmediaDent Figure 8’s put on a grand show for the Anderson Speedway faithful as Ranny Hinton went wire to wire for the win. Hinton was challenged early by Mike Riddle, Jr., but Riddle was unable to finish after his hood flew up during the middle of the 25-lap event. After a caution that ended the racing for Joe Hart, Anderson’s Rob Allman had a chance to grab the lead away from Hinton, but Ranny kept the nose clean and the finders in good shape on his way to the win. Allman finished second, Ronnie Rose ran third, Shawn Cullen was fourth and Herb Rose came in fifth.
 
Anderson Speedway returns to action on Saturday, May 10 with Ed Martin Chevrolet SuperTrucks, ImmediaDent Figure 8’s, Street Stocks and Quick Auto Front Wheel Drive Pro division.
 
For additional information, visit Anderson Speedway at andersonspeedway.com or contact at (765) 642-0206.
 
- www.andersonspeedway.com –

Courtesy: Track Enterprises

BY: PETE DAVIS
Macon – Macon Speedway was proud to hold the Cinco de Mayo Festival Saturday night. Festivities included a sombrero giveaways and a jalapeno eating contest. Chad Justice took home a pair of Macon Speedway tickets for eating the most peppers in 15 seconds.

The consummate pros Kyle Logue and Steve Sheppard Jr. finished first and second in race number three of the MidWest Big Ten Series for the Chevrolet Late Models. After his third place finish on Friday at Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville, Logue now holds a commanding lead in the series point standings.

Blue Mound’s Cory Daugherty racked up a few points of his own by finishing in third place. He’s well on his way to winning a nice share of the series prize. Jason Unzicker won the second ace of the series on Friday at Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville.

Jim Leka from Buffalo worked his way around Steve Ewing for a win in the BARBECK Communications Modified feature. Former Street Stock champion Ewing posted his best ever finish in the Modified class.

“It feels like a win. If you’re losing to (Leka), you’re doing alright.” Ewing said.

In the Hornet feature, Bruce Dulgar brought Joe Reed’s three-race winning streak to end. Tyler Blankenship from St. Elmo held off Steve Ewing to win his second street stock feature of the season.

All the way from Avon, Ind., 14 year old Zac Bunten won the first race of his very young career. His first visit to Macon Speedway, Bunten drove away from local youth racer Justin Leka in the AFCO Kid Modz feature race.

Macon Speedway is located 9 miles south of Decatur, IL on US 51 then .6 miles west on Andrews Street, then south on Wiles.  For information, call 217-764-3000 (track), 217-764-3220 (information hotline), or contact Dave Reed via email at dave.maconspeedway@yahoo.com.  Also visit www.maconracing.com or www.trackenterprises.com for additional information.

I usually don’t revisit results even though I just post the unofficial results as soon as possible after the race.  The reason why is usually, the finishing order remains the same from unofficial to official.  This is one of those rare occasions when there is a small change.  Simple enough explanation if you watched the NASCAR Sprint Cup Aaron’s 499 on Sunday.  The last lap crash was crazy further back in the field.  NASCAR had to review video and all of the scoring loop data to determine who was where when the caution came out because, remember, the field is frozen as soon as the yellow flag flies.  There is, surprisingly, only one change.  Sterling Marlin and Regan Smith were shown as 21st and 22nd in the unofficial results.  In the official results, they are flipped; Regan is 21st and Sterling is 22nd.  Not bad considering the mayhem that ensued on that final lap.  As expected, Talladega delivered another exciting weekend.

Kyle Busch came away from one of the wildest Talladega races in quite a while with the win as the race ended under caution.  Busch battled problems all day.  After being unable to reach his pit on an early pit stop left him a lap down, he grabbed the "lucky-dog" on the next caution.  Kyle also had contact with Jamie McMurray that should have ended his day but both drivers were able to recover their cars. 

The Talladega "big one" happened twice.  First, on lap 175, collecting Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray, Bobby Labonte and Dale Jr.  Tony was squeezed in the middle when his lane went away causing him to bounce around like a pinball.  Then, on the last lap, a more typical Talladega crash collected eleven cars in turn two. 

Leave your comments and let me know what you thought about the race.

Unofficial Race Results for the Aaron’s "499" – Sunday, April 27, 2008
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, AL – 2.66 Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 188 Laps – 500.08 Miles – Purse: $6,101,309

Lake Scores Back-to-Back Wins
Hull, Yonker and Roelofs also Triumphant
 
Marne, MI–  Area church groups came out in droves to support their pastors in the highly-anticipated Faster Pastor race as a part of All Faiths Night at Berlin Raceway.  Dave Hull (De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock) celebrated in victory lane, as did Coors Light Late Model Driver Tim Yonker, Dave Lake of the Engine Pro Super Stocks and Ken Roelofs from the Instant Cash Advance Sportsman division.

For numerous fans in attendance as part of church groups for All Faiths Night, the fourth annual Faster Pastor race was their main event.  The races got under way at sunset and there were two eight-lap shootouts.  The first race saw Bob Pohler of Trinity Reformed Christian Church take the win over Jeff Elders (Jenison Christian School) and Mike VanBuren (Fellowship Reformed Church).  The second race was a crowd-pleaser as well; Allen Pickett of Knapp Street Reformed Church took the win and Brad Laninga (Providence Christian Reformed Church) came in a close second. The rest of the churches that provided pastors for the Faster Pastor races were: Little Farms Chapel- Bob VanManen, Ottawa Reformed Church- Marv Jacobs, Resurrection Life Church- Dawn Jones, St. Lukes Lutheran Church- David Olsen, Pine Grove Community Church- Steve Vanderwest, Muskegon First Free Methodist Church- Carlos Ramos, Grace Lutheran Church- Joel Hoyer, United Church of Wayland- Nancy Zerban and Green Country Church- Pete Alley.

In the De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock race, #80 Jason Hoogerhyde and #15 Scott Root lead the field to the green flag.  Root had the lead early while #20 Dave Hull and Hoogerhyde sorted it out for 2nd and the rest of the field had tight racing throughout.   The first caution of the race came on lap 7; #11 Nick Bonstell spun coming out of turn 3.  On the restart, Hull was challenging Root for the lead and #76 Brian Tillema was using the outside lane to get to the front.  Hull took the lead from Root on lap 14 and Tillema went after Root which let Hull run away from the field.  Once Tillema got around Root, he started to chase down Hull, but Hull held him off and took home the trophy.  The rest of the top ten were Tillema, Root, #76 Ryan Gruppen, #15 Weston Jewett, #50 Justin Regnerus, #17 Ryan Meldrum, #97.9 Ryan Schnabel, #7 Kevin DeGood and #61 Jack DeJong.

The Coors Light Late Models took the track next for their 50-lap feature; #28 Scott Thomas and #88 Tim Yonker were on the front row.  Yonker took the lead from S. Thomas on the first lap and showed his strength by pulling away from the field.  Meanwhile, #82 Tom Thomas was in a hurry to get to the front, moving up four places in three laps.  By lap 6, Yonker was putting cars a lap down and that is also when the first caution of the race occurred.  There was a wreck in turn 3 involving #222 Caleb Bisacky, #30 Bryan Clay and # 4 Joel Baker; #14 Steve Needles and #12 Josh Slade were also involved.  Yonker got a good restart when the field was shown the green flag and #37 Terry Senneker was starting to move up.  Earlier in the afternoon, Senneker had set the track record for Late Models by running a 14.843.  Back-to-back cautions happened on laps 15 and 16; the former saw another caution when #55 Chris Anthony and #21 Terry VanHaitsma spun on the frontstretch while the latter involved Needles and #4 Joel Baker.  The next 27 laps went caution-free and Yonker’s car was hooked up; he had a ½ lap lead on second-place T. Thomas.  His lead was diminished when the final caution of the night came out on lap 43.  With seven laps to go, there was no stopping Yonker.  He won his first race since June of 2006 by a commanding 2.684 seconds over T. Thomas.  #32 Ross Meeuwsen, Senneker, #28 Scott Thomas, VanHaitsma, #27 Billy Shotko, #12 Tim DeVos, #24 Lee VanDyk and #1 Randy Sweet completed the top ten. 

The 30-lap Engine Pro Super Stock race was started by #71 Kyle Ballard and #55 Dave Lake, but this division had trouble completing the first lap.  There were two caution flags that slowed the start of the race, both involving #26 Chris Muyskens and #X Ray Clay.  Once they got going, Lake was eager to pick up where he left off, so he grabbed the lead and left Ballard and #10 Bob Spencer to sort it out for 2nd.   Spencer made it by Ballard on lap six and then tried to reel Lake in.  Spencer and Lake had a great battle going on for the lead; they ran five laps side by side and #98 Bob Bliss was about to join them when a caution came out for the #3 car of Travis Nylaan.  On the restart, Spencer tired to get back to the side-by-side battle with Lake, but another caution halted his progress; Clay’s car was off the backstretch.  Two laps later, the red flag was displayed when #12 Josh Slade and #5 Ray VanAllsburg went off the backstretch.  Once the race was restarted, Lake was able to hold off Spencer to get back-to-back victories. 

The Instant Cash Advance Sportsman provided the final race of the night, #52 Nick Sherrington and #22 Ken Roelofs started on the front row.  Roelofs took the lead from the start, but Sherrington and #44 Brian VanZalen didn’t let him get far.  Caution was out early in this race; #551 Matt VanHorssen spun in turn 1.  On that restart, Sherrington was challenging Roelofs for the lead, but Roelofs was holding his own.  It seemed as if no one could catch Roelofs, but with one lap to go, VanHorssen brought out the caution again and this tightened the field back up.  With one lap to make it happen, Sherrington tried, but Roelofs beat him to the stripe by .118 seconds.  VanZalen, #33 Allen Davis, #6 Terry Bockheim, #57 Allan Troup, #40 Dave Cutler, #48 Brandon Wright, #38 Maurice Davis and #00 Dennis Mann rounded out the top 10.

The night was capped off by a beautiful fireworks display.

Berlin Raceway is back in action next Saturday night for the Super Stock Spectacular, with a 75-lap Engine Pro Super Stock feature headlining the program. The De-Jay Slick Truck Pro Stock and Instant Cash Advance Sportsman divisions will also be in action. There will be an on-track autograph session with the Super Stock and Sportsman drivers and it’s also Reading Club Night, which means the return of the fan favorite School Bus Races! Tickets are $12 for adult general admission, $6 for kids 6 to 12 and free for kids 5 and under. Pit passes for those 14 and over are $25. Gates open at 12:15 p.m. and the first race begins at 7 p.m.
 
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Courtesy Berlin Raceway Media Department