Keselowski Earns Round One Chase Win in Chicagoland Racin with Russ By RUSSELL SCHMIDT With a calculating three-wide up-the-middle pass on leaders Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski won the opening round of this years Chase at Chicagoland Speedway. The Sunday afternoon NASCAR Sprint Cup race was a breath of fresh air in the action department as there was quite a bit of side-by-side entertainment, something certainly lacking of late in the premier stock car division. The race began with Kyle Busch out front and led numerous laps before Jeff Gordon and Jamie McMurray showed their strengths out front. Perhaps the most entertaining part of this race was watching rookie Kyle Larson and Jeff Gordon during the closing laps fight for the runner-up spot. Kid Larson rode the high side while Gordon looked low as the two talented drivers traded spots several times a lap before Gordon took the runner-up position with Larson third. Joey Loganos Ford blew up crossing the finish line in fourth with Harvick taking fifth. As Keselowski moved away from the pack in the final laps, Danica Patrick and boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got together, sending both to the pits for repairs. The TV coverage was not the greatest, but it appeared that Patrick drifted up into Stenhouse a little short. Both still finished about where they were running, 17th and 19th. Note: For much of the race, Aric Almirola looked as if they were about to start their very first Chase with a top five or ten finish, only to have things literally blow up as his Ford engine expired with 37 laps to go. Once again, one very bad finish pretty much wipes out any shot at a title. This will more than likely happen to one driver each week of the Chase. The points system still needs adjusting. Keselowskis 15th career win and fifth of the season locks him into the next round of Chase rules and regs. Nationwide Once again, the full-time Cuppers came into a Nationwide race and dominated the show. Kyle Busch led most of the laps, but Kevin Harvick took the big trophy at Chicagoland on Saturday afternoon. Points leader Chase Elliott ran well, as did Ryan Blaney, but it was Harvick followed by Kyle Larson, Busch, Blaney and Trevor Bayne as the top five finishers. Elliott continues to top the points charts, now by 18 over Regan Smith. Camping World Trucks Points leader Johnny Sauter led the opening laps of the truck race at Chicagoland Speedway, but once again, it was the full-time Cupsters invading the truck set as Kyle Busch led the most laps and won the race, his 41st truck trophy. Cupper Austin Dillon also led laps and finished third, just ahead of Matt Crafton. Sauters poor finish to 14th finds him five points in arrears to Crafton in the points chase with Blaney 16 back in third. Open Wheel News The first open wheel Formula E all electric car race took place on Sunday in China with a dramatic ending when race long leader Nicolas Prost chopped off Nick Heidfeld in the final corner sending Heidfeld into a wild flip. Both drivers were unhurt, allowing Lucas di Grassi to take the title of the first all electric open-wheel winner. The cars resemble a typical open wheeler and have 25 minutes of battery life. The strangest part of this concept is the drivers change cars when theyre out of battery. Id rather see them change battery packs than the whole car. From Rumorville Looks like crowd favorite Marcos Ambrose will be moving back to Australia after a fine four year run in American NASCAR competition. The Aussie is said to be returning to the V8 Supercar Touring series, spending more time with his family and may be driving for a new Team Penske set up. Early rumors have David Regan as the most likely replacement in the Richard Petty No. 9 ride. I think thats a good choice. The long awaited decision as to what the upstate New York Sheriffs Dept. accidents investigation team has concluded in the Tony Stewart incident will come to a head sometime this week. Stay tuned. Thats it for this week. Next weeks RWR will review the NASCAR action from New Hampshire Speedway, the second round of this years Chase, along with more racing news from around the globe. Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at [email protected]
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 03:29:35 +0000
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