Is Hendrick Motorsports Back In Competition?

Hendrick Motorsports drivers never stopped racing, but for some of them it seemed like they wanted to. They had trouble since the first race of the season when Jimmie Johnson got caught up in a wreck early during the Daytona 500. Jeff Gordon had an engine issue, and Kasey Kahne got into an accident. The only good finisher in the 500 was Dale Jr. who finished second. 


The second race was at Phoenix, all the drivers managed to finish. Jimmie Johnson was the best HMS driver, he crossed the line in fourth. Kahne was the worst, he came in 34th after slapping the wall early in the race.


The next race was at Las Vegas. Jimmie Johnson and Dale Jr. finished inside the top ten. Jeff Gordon finsihed 12th. And Kasey Kahne crossed the line in 19th,  that was a better race for the whole HMS organization.


Then came Bristol, Johnson came home ninth. Dale Jr. came home 15th, but that was after getting together with teammate Jeff Gordon. Kahne got caught up in the early wreck with Regan Smith, Kahne finished 37th.

Johnson and Gordon seeing their
chances of winning vanish
at Martinsville

Enough with going in order now, lets skip to race number six, where it looked like HMS was going to finished 1-2-3 at Martinsville. That all went backwards on the final restart. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson both got taken out when Bowyer tucked his nose under then going into turn one. Dale Jr. managed to come home third in that race. Kahne finished 38th with engine issues.




Texas was good to HMS, lowest finishing car was Dale Jr. who finished tenth. Kansas was good to all the drivers besides Jeff Gordon, who had engine problems late in the race. Richmond was another good race to the HMS drivers, besides Jeff Gordon. He had a flat tire and wasn't able to get back on the lead lap, he crossed the finish line one lap down. 


OK, one last race, then I promise it gets better! Talladega, two drivers did good, the other two did bad. Johnson had a engine go bad, Jeff got into an accident. Kasey Kahne and Dale Jr. both finished inside the top ten.


So you get the point, it was all bad until the race at Darlington. Johnson finally got win #200 for his owner Rick Hendrick. Next came All-Star week, which was awesome to HMS. Johnson's pit crew won the Pit Crew challenge, Dale Jr. won the Showdown and Johnson won the All-Star race.

Kahne Celebrating His Win At
Charlotte

This weekend the 43 drivers took on the Coca-Cola 600, the longest race of the year. Kasey Kahne made his 300th carrer cup start, and he managed to bring home the win! So the last 2 points races have been won by Hendrick dirvers, and the 3 events during All-Star week were also won by Hendrick teams and drivers!




In the Coca-Cola 600, all four Hendrick teams crossed the start/finish line inside the top eleven! Dale Jr. is getting closer and closer to winning a race, and Jeff Gordon actually finished the race! 


All the teams seem to be back on track, especially after they all finished inside the top eleven in the Coca-Cola 600 this weekend. 


So is this momentum going to keep up for the HMS drivers? I would say they are going to be strong at Dover, both Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have multiple wins at Dover. Dale Jr. has one win and Kahne is the only HMS driver who has not won at Dover.


Comment below with any thoughts or opinions!!

Image Credit Goes To Zmbio.com and Getty Images 

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Kasey Kahne Wins His Third 600

Kasey crossing the finish line to win the 600|Credit:Zimbio.com

Kasey Kahne made his 300th career start in the Sprint Cup Series last night, only to win his third Coca-Cola 600. Kahne also won his first race with his new team at HMS last night. The JGR teammates of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were driving hard for the win, but neither were able to catch Kahne.

The teammates Aric Alimrola and Marcos Ambrose started on the front row of the race, and both led a few laps at the start of the race. This race was filled with long green flag runs, the first one being 112 laps, during that time two green flag pit stops took place.

Kyle Busch took the lead from Marcos Ambrose on the restart, shortly after Kyle Busch got passed by Biffle. That is when the second caution was for debris again on lap 134. Once again more cars pitted, the only one that stayed out was the #24 of Jeff Gordon.

Nothing really exciting happened between the restart, the drivers went about another 40 laps till the caution came out for Travis Kvapil who hit the wall in turns three and four. Shortly after on lap 177, the caution came out again for a big piece of sheet metal that came off of a car. Allmendinger then went to the garage because his left front brake locked up so tight, that he couldn't even move the car with that 800hp engine under the hood.

Around lap 216 Marcos Ambrose was having some problems and went behind the wall, later we found out that it was an issue similar to A.J. Allmendinger's. The green flag pit stops also started around this time, Pit stops then happened again around lap 265. That is when Brad Keselowski spun Tony Stewart around in the pits. Smoke did a burnout to spin back around and still got to his pit box. Keselowski told his crew to tell Tony "It was my fault and didn't mean it". His crew told him to get in the game and Brad told him "don't worry about it and get your head back in the game". Brad wasn't happy wit that comment cause he didn't want Stewart to retaliate.

Nothing ever happened between Smoke and Keselowski, they gave each other tons of room on the race track, enough room to allow Dale Jr. to go through the middle of them one time. Stewart once again had a car like he had at the all-star race. No matter what they did to the car, nothing seemed to work.

The race went green flag so long that only 10 cars were on the lead lap with 86 to go. One final yellow flag came out for debris on lap 319. Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. stayed out while the rest of the field pitted, bother were passed sooner or later by Kasey Kahne. From then on Kasey Kahne held the lead of Denny Hamlin.

Jimmie Johnson had a good enough car to win the race, but when he made his final pit stop with 47 laps to go, the jackman dropped the jack too early(drivers signal to leave the pit box) and the gas can went off with the car. It even pulled down the gasman. That means a stop and go penalty which put him a lap down.

Whatever problems HMS had earlier this year, they have all went away, because all his drivers finished in the top 11. Kahne won, Dale Jr finished sixth, Jeff Gordon finished seventh, and Jimmie Johnson finished eleventh.

Next week the Sprint Cup Series heads to Dover. This is also the last race on FOX.

Standings-Top Five
1. Greg Biffle(Leader)
2. Matt Kenseth(-10)
3. Denny Hamlin(-16)
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr.(-18)
5. Jimmie Johnson(-48)

Results
1. Kasey Kahne
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Kyle Busch
4. Greg Biffle
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
7. Jeff Gordon
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Carl Edwards
10. Matt Kenseth
11. Jimmie Johnson
12. Martin Truex Jr.
13. Clint Bowyer
14. Ryan Newman
15. Paul Menard
16. Aric Almriola
17. Regan Smith
18. Landon Cassill
19. Jeff Burton
20. Juan Montoya
21. Jamie McMurray
22. Casey Mears
23. Joey Logano
24. Trevor Bayne
25. Tony Stewart
26. David Gilliland
27. Kurt Busch
28. Bobby Labonte
29. Travis Kvapil
30. Danica Patrick
31. T.J. Bell
32. Marcos Ambrose
33. A.J. Allmendinger
34. Mark Martin
35. David Ragan
36. Michael McDowell
37. Scott Speed
38. David Stremme
39. Stephen Leicht
40. Dave Blaney
41. Joe Nemchek
42. Cole Whitt
43. Josh Wise

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Race Day: Coca-Cola 600

The green flag will wave around 6:20 this evening where the field of 43 drivers look to take on the 600 miles of Charlotte. Aric Almirola will lead the field to the green flag, while his teammate Marcos Ambrose will start next to him.

Aric Alirola will be driving the #43 to the drop of the green flag this evening. Since Almriola has not raced at Charlotte in the Cup series before, here are some of his Nationwide stats here. In his seven starts here at Charlotte he has one top five and three top ten finishes. His best finish was fourth back in 2007 when he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Nationwide series. His most recent finish was 15th last year with JR Motorsports.

Marcos Ambrose will be starting next to his teammate tonight. Ambrose loves the mile and a half tracks which means he likes Charlotte. Ambrose has been to Charlotte six times and has one top five and two top ten finishes. Last year in this race he finished sixth, and in the second race here last year he finished fifth.

Tonight you will see many patriotic paint schemes in the race, you have probably seen them already if you watched practice and qualifying, but here are a few of my favorites:

Kevin Harvick's #29 Car|Credit: Jayski.com

Martin Truex Jr.'s #56 Car|Credit: Zimbio.com

Juan Pablo Montoya's #42 Car|Credit:  Zimbio.com

There were some of my favorite paint schemes for tonight's race at Charlotte. Tune into FOX at 5:30pm/ET. We will be doing live race updates on our facebook page, and if you follow our twitter page as well they will be there too.

Lineup:

1. Aric Almirola
2. Marcos Ambrose
3. Jimmie Johnson
4. Greg Biffle
5. Clint Bowyer
6. Mark Martin
7. Kasey Kahne 
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Paul Menard
10. Regan Smith
11. A.J. Allmendinger
12. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
13. Trevor Bayne
14. Kevin Harvick
15. Martin Truex, Jr.
16. Ryan Newman
17. Kyle Busch
18. Landon Cassill
19. Joey Logano
20. Matt Kenseth
21. Tony Stewart
22. Jeff Burton
23. Jeff Gordon
24. Brad Keselowski
25. Casey Mears
26. Bobby Labonte
27. Cole Whitt
28. Carl Edwards
29. Juan Pablo Montoya
30. David Ragan
31. Jamie McMurray 
32. Michael McDowell
33. Josh Wise
34. Stephen Leicht
35. David Stremme
36. Dave Blaney
37. Travis Kvapil
38. Scott Speed
39. David Gilliland 
40. Danica Patrick
41. T.J. Bell
42. Kurt Busch
43. Joe Nemechek

Facebook: HERE
Twitter: HERE

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Keselowski Wins A Hot One At Charlotte

Brad Keselowski won his first Nationwide Series race of the season Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It marked his 18th career win in the series, and his second at Charlotte. After starting 10th in the History 300, Keselowski hovered there for more than the first half. Then, following a restart on Lap 131 in which he started eighth, Keselowski fought his way to the lead in five, short laps. However, his team’s winning move came after a caution on lap 137: Keselowski (as well as Kasey Kahne) opted to stay out as the rest of the front-runners came down pit road for fuel. From there, it was a Keselowski-lead race to the checkered flag. “Thankfully, we were able to save enough fuel, and I get what I think is one of the biggest wins of my career—to win on Memorial Day weekend. And what it means to me and this country, it feels great,” a soaked, yet excited Keselowski said to pit report Shannon Spake in Victory Lane.

Joey Logano won his third pole of the season on Saturday, and he managed to hold on to the lead for the first 21 laps before being overtaken by Kevin Harvick. During those 22 laps, there were two cautions: Travis Pastrana spun on lap six, creating the race’s first caution. The second caution came on lap 19 when Robert Richardson Jr. hit the wall after losing his engine. No race leaders pitted during either caution. Angela Cope, daughter of Daytona 500 Champion Derrick Cope, brought out the third caution on lap 53 after her engine expired. Harvick won the race off pit road and maintained his lead for the restart on lap 59. However, that lead was not meant to last as Kasey Kahne quickly assumed the lead after restarting third. On lap 61, Pastrana spun for the second time of the race (he also spun during practice, bringing his spin total of the day to three). During the caution laps, series point’s leader, Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s car suffered a broken drive shaft, which ultimately took him out of contention. Stenhouse eventually returned to the race, 21 laps down and finished in a dismal 26th.

Kahne led the field to the green on lap 66’s restart. He didn’t get to enjoy his lead for long though because Harvick re-took the lead on lap 69. A long green flag run ensued after that restart with green flag pit stops beginning on lap 111. Once the stops cycled through, it was Harvick, Keselowski, and Logano who held the top-three spots. Some race strategy began to unfold when Tyler Malsam spun and brought out the fifth caution of the day. All of the leaders pitted; and while most took two tires, Logano got fuel only while Harvick took four tires. The sixth caution came out on lap 137—the caution that Keselowski didn’t come to pit road and eventually won him the race. Brian Scott spun on lap 147, causing the race’s seventh and final caution. His spin unfortunately collected Jr. Motorsports driver, Cole Whitt, as well. Once all of cautions concluded, it was a relatively easy shot to victory lane for Keselowski.

The next Nationwide Series race will be on Saturday, June 2, at Dover. The 5-Hour Energy 200 will be televised on ESPN with coverage beginning at 1:30pm EST.

Top-Five in Nationwide Points

1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2. Elliott Sadler -13
3. Austin Dillon -28
4. Sam Hornish Jr. –57
5. Cole Whitt -94
Click HERE for the rest of the standings

Top-Five Finishers (Unofficial)
1. Brad Keselowski
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Kyle Busch
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Elliott Sadler
Click HERE for the rest of the results

**Photo Credit to foxsports.com**

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Stenhouse Remains The King Of Iowa

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won his third consecutive Nationwide race at Iowa Speedway Sunday. After starting from the third position, Stenhouse Jr. took the lead from Sam Hornish Jr. on lap 31 and essentially held onto it until the checkered flag fell. To continue Stenhouse’s theme of three’s for the day, Sunday’s win was also his third win of the season. He pretty much summed it up in Victory Lane: “That was dominant right there, man.”

The pole sitter for the Pioneer Hi-Bred 250, Elliott Sadler, didn't even get a chance to lead lap one. Despite running up front for most of the race, Sadler was never really able to compete against the dominant Stenhouse, and Sadler ended up finishing second.

Tire woes marred the runs of Danica Patrick, Sam Hornish Jr., and Jeff Green—all three had right front tires that blew out. Several other teams reported that their right front tires were worn down to the chords.

The Nationwide Series heads back home next week to Charlotte Motor Speedway. The History 300 will be held Saturday, May 26th, with TV coverage beginning at 2:30pm est on ABC.

Top-Five Finishers

1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2. Elliott Sadler
3. Michael McDowell
4. Austin Dillon
5. Kurt Busch


Top-Five in Series Points

1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
2. Elliott Sadler -18
3. Austin Dillon -43
4. Sam Hornish Jr. –74
5. Cole Whitt -92

**Photo credit goes to Zimbio.com**

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