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Roush Fenway Racing teammates Matt Kenseth (ninth) and Carl Edwards (14th) were the top two Ford finishers at Pocono during the rain-shortened race in June. Edwards, in 2005, became just the second driver (now three) to win a Cup race at the uniquely shaped 2.5-mile track in his first visit there. Edwards will also compete in the Busch Series race at Montreal during the weekend.
Image by: Jeff Kluss/ SIT
MATT KENSETH – No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion – AFTER THE FIRST POCONO RACE OF THE YEAR WAS SHORTENED BY RAIN, ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO A 500-MILE RACE THERE? “Not really; I kind of liked the 250. Pocono is cool, 500 miles is a long, long time there, though. It’s a big ol’ track with long straightaways, and I don’t think the race would’ve been any better last time if it would have been longer, so I was happy with the 250 or 300 miles or whatever it was. I guess I’m ready to go there. We haven’t really run that well there the last bunch of years, actually. We did okay in the spring, and hopefully we can it going a little bit better.”
Carl Edwards #99 Office Depot
Photo by Jeff Kluss/SIT
CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion – YOU WILL BE RUNNING TWO RACES THIS WEEKEND – AT POCONO IN THE CUP SERIES AND AT MONTREAL IN THE BUSCH SERIES. YOUR THOUGHTS ON GETTING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN THE TWO VENUES. “I’m pretty excited about next week. I get to go Wednesday to Montreal with P.K., (Pierre Kuettel) my crew chief, and we’re going to do some advance media. We’re going to go see some musicians up there and I’m going to see their studio and stuff. And we’re going to walk around, and hopefully get to learn a little bit about the city. And then we’re going to go off to Pocono and do all the practicing and qualifying. And, I’m not sure how it’s going to work, if we’re going to make qualifying or not at Montreal, but no matter how that goes – to me, those kinds of things, like going to Mexico City, going to Montreal – they’re awesome experiences. As race-car drivers, growing up I remember when I’d go all the way to St. Louis to race, and thought, ‘Man, I’m traveling. I’m doing something here.’ But to go to another and race is awesome. So, I’m very excited about next weekend, yes, because we run well at Pocono, and number two, Montreal is going to be such a novel experience. I love going racing in new places. The Mexico City race was one of the most fun things of the year as far as venues. I’ve never been to Canada. Everybody says Montreal is great. P.K. is Canadian, so it’s kind of a homecoming for him. Anytime we go somewhere new, I don’t know what to expect. I have no clue. I’ve seen one track map, and we looked at that, but I have no clue what it’s going to be like.”
YOU’LL BE VISITING LOCAL MUSICIANS IN MONTREAL? “We’re just going to hang out up there, going to see some folks, and we get to hang out all day on Wednesday. We’re going to do some media around there. I can’t remember who exactly is doing it, but somebody’s giving us a little tour of the city, and it should be a blast. I don’t know much about the history of that city – I’ve never been to Canada, so I’m pretty excited. There’s a band called Simple Plan, and we’re to go to their studio up there. So, it’s going to be cool. That’s the plan right now. You never know how the day is going to go.”
WILL YOU HAVE TO START FROM THE BACK BECAUSE YOU ARE GOING IN BETWEEN MONTREAL AND POCONO? “We might not start from the back. I think we might be able to make it for drivers meeting and qualifying. We might miss the second practice before qualifying. It’s the second Pocono race, so we just raced there a month and a half ago, or whatever it was. I think we might miss the second Cup practice trying to make it to Montreal. Right now it’s really tough. We’re working with customs, and Jack (Roush) is going to fly us up, I guess. We’ll try to make it so everything is speedy and especially coming back Saturday. There are a lot of people working real hard to make this work out.”
HAVE YOU TESTED? “Yes, we did some testing, I don’t think we are going to test again before that race. We tested a month and a half ago for it. It’s hard to test for a place that you’ve never been. You really don’t know what to expect.”
JUST BEFORE SONOMA, YOU RATED YOURSELF ABOUT A SIX OUT OF 10, WITH 10 BEING BEST, IN YOUR SKILLS AS A ROAD RACER. SINCE THEN HAS THAT CHANGED? “Sonoma went real well. Jamie (McMurray) was fast and we were catching him near the end of the race before we ran out of gas. I don’t know, I feel pretty good about the road races. I feel like I’m getting better every time and we had another great run at Sonoma. I’d give myself about a seven or eight right now. But I’m getting better.”
WHAT’S THE OUTLOOK FOR THIS WEEKEND? “I’m really excited about this weekend to say the least. I’m excited about every weekend, but to go to Canada and be part of such a historic event in such a historic city as Montreal is gonna be really exciting. I’m leaving this afternoon to go to Montreal for our media day all day Wednesday and I believe Patrick Carpentier and myself are gonna go run around town and see some things. He’s going to show me around. P.K. (Pierre Kuettel), my crew chief on the No. 60 Scotts Fusion, is from Canada and he’s going with me, so I’m just really excited about that race. Then I’m obviously excited about Pocono. We’ve run really well there. We got a win there in 2005. I love racing there, so it should be a fun weekend. I believe we have all of the customs stuff in order, so we can go back and forth pretty easily, and we’re just about ready to go racing.”
HOW IS THE HAND AND DO YOU EXPECT ANY ISSUES TURNING RIGHT AND LEFT IN THE BUSCH RACE? “I’ve got a great group of folks here with an orthopedic group and rehab center that has been helping me a lot. It’s really not that big of a deal. My thumb feels great. It’s a really minor injury and it was really no problem at Indy in the Busch race or the Cup race. We’ve got a whole test day and practice day schedule for Thursday and John Andretti will be there to help out. He’s gonna be the one that practices the car on Friday for us, so I feel like we’re prepared the best we can be. I feel good. It would have to take some spectacular problem to keep me out of the car and as it stands right now, I think I’ll be 100 percent. We’ll just have to make sure the shifting is no issue, but I don’t believe it will be. It wasn’t this past weekend.”
THE BUSCH FIELD LOOKS STACKED WITH VETERAN ROAD RACERS. DOES THAT MAKE IT DIFFICULT FOR YOU, OR DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE THE ADVANTAGE ON THEM? “I feel like road racing is just like oval racing, it’s the specialty of auto racing. It’s a niche. There are guys who are really good at it and I think that in road racing it seems to me that the people who have the most experience on a given race track are the ones that have an advantage. So the guys I would be concerned about going in would be guys that have a lot of experience on this circuit, combined with a little bit of experience in stock cars. So if there are any of those guys entered in this race, those would be the guys I’d watch, but I love it. It’s fun to get to race against different people. That’s one of the beauties about gonna Mexico City in the Busch Series because you get to race against so many different guys. You have local guys from Mexico and Mexico City and I hope to meet a lot of new guys this weekend. It’ll be fun.”
TONY STEWART SLIPPED IN VICTORY LANE AND UTTERED A PROFANITY. HOW HARD IS IT TO CONTROL YOUR EMOTIONS IN THAT SITUATION? “I think for anyone, we all slip up and say things we shouldn’t say. I know I perfectly understand that situation. It’s an amazing moment when you win a race or if you’re involved in a big wreck or you’re having a fight with someone or whatever, and then someone sticks a camera or a microphone in your face, it’s really hard to sometimes choose your words. The answer is that it is difficult sometimes. It’s pretty hard to snap in an out of pure racer mode and then go right to saying the right thing in front of the media and sometimes you just slip up.”
WHEN AN INJURY LIKE YOURS OCCURS IT CREATES THE QUESTION OR CONTROVERSY ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT YOU GUYS SHOULD COMPETE IN OTHER FORMS OF RACING. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT? “I don’t think there’s any controversy there other than people just like to speculate about things. The bottom line is I’m a racecar driver. I started racing cars because I love to do it. I never imagined that I’d have so much responsibility attached to it as far as people’s jobs and marketing for sponsors and things like that. It’s just like I said about trying to snap out of racer mode into media mode, it’s really hard to go from being someone that really just loves to race and would race at the drop of a hat – any chance I could get – it’s pretty hard to go from the guy that I was four or five years ago to the guy that I am now. The difference is now I do have that responsibility in Cup, so I guess for me personally, just having that slight injury there and seeing how much it could effect my Nextel Cup season and my Busch season made me take just a little step back. I know that in the future I’ll be just a little more cautious when I go do things like that, but it’s part of who we are. We like to race cars. I can go run a dirt race with my dad and little brother at a beautiful dirt track somewhere and get to try to win a race, it’s gonna be really hard not to do that. I just have to be a little more careful I guess.”
HOW MUCH ADRENALINE DOES IT TAKE TO RUN BOTH SERIES AND DOES IT TAKE A TOLL AS THE YEAR WINDS DOWN? “Personally, I don’t really get tired. I have a great trainer. His name is Dean Golich. He’s from Carmichael Training Systems and they’re based out of Colorado Springs. I partnered up with them and that’s been a big help to me to have a trainer – someone who looks at my schedule, plans out my workouts, my travel days and point out bottlenecks in the season where it’s gonna be really tough and to train accordingly. I think the hardest part is for the people who do all the stuff for the drivers. The guys who do all of my PR and my travel and planning and appearing, it’s really long for them. The crew guys essentially work seven days a week, 18 hours a day. This is a grueling season, but as a driver we’ve got every perk there is. We get to fly our airplanes and go home and visit our friends and family almost every week, so it’s really pretty simple for us, but I think on the whole for the industry it’s an extremely tough season.”
HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF WINNING BOTH TITLES THIS YEAR? “Yeah, I’ve thought about it. I think about it every day. That would be the ultimate achievement, I think, for me personally. That would be an amazing achievement, so what I have to do personally to make that a reality is apply everything I’ve learned the last couple of years since I’ve been driving in NASCAR. I have to make sure that Bob Osborne, my crew chief in the Cup Series, we have to make sure we do everything we can to gather the most amount of points that we can. We practiced a little bit last year at the end of the season with 10 races to go. We said we were gonna go points racing and at the end of the year I believe we accumulated more points than anyone else in the series in the last 10 races, so I feel like we can do it, we just have to do everything right and rely on luck to be on our side. This sport requires a lot of luck, so I’ve been trying to get all the good karma I can.”
WHY HAVE YOU BEEN SO CONSISTENT THIS YEAR COMPARED TO LAST? “I was thinking about that a little bit because obviously I want to learn as much as I can. I try to compare this season to last season and the season before and I don’t feel like we’ve run any better on average this season. I feel like we’ve had the cars that in 2006 we had some great cars but we just had some crazy luck and I got caught up in some wrecks and had some wild stuff happen that was both my fault and pure chance. I feel like that’s the difference between last season and this season, plus there’s always just a little bit more experience with anything helps. Sunday was a perfect example. We ran 18th and we had about an 18th-place car. A couple of years ago I might have wrecked that thing trying to run 15th, so just kind of knowing when to go and knowing when to get the most out of the day and move on, I think, has been a big key for me in points racing.”
IF YOUR HAND HURT WOULD YOU TELL US? “I’ve been to Walter Reed Hospital a couple times and I look around and I see a lot of people going through a lot of physical pain having great spirits and not letting it slow them down at all. So, to me, those folks inspire me. Meeting those soldiers and the people who have come back from war missing arms and legs and things like that, and seeing them just hop in their pick-up truck. I saw a guy hop in his pick-up truck at Walter Reed and he had two prosthetic arms and he got in his pick-up truck, waved to everybody, and took off. That’s a tough individual. For me just to have a dislocated thumb, really doesn’t amount to anything. I guess to answer your question, if it did hurt real bad, I wouldn’t say anything about it, and it would have to hurt extremely bad to keep me off the race track.”
CAN YOU RUN DOWN WHAT YOUR TRAVEL ITINERARY IS LIKE THIS WEEKEND? “Yes, I have an itinerary. LeAnne Howell, Randy Fuller and Angela Tucker are the three people who help with these weekends. I know Angela, my assistant, called me this morning and she’s at her wit’s end. She can’t wait for this weekend to be over because it’s been really tough to plan with crossing the border back and forth, but, essentially, I’m gonna take my airplane and fly with David Ragan and Max Jones, our general manager, from Montreal to Pocono on Thursday night. Friday, I’ll do track activities in the Cup car all day at Pocono and then Saturday morning we’ll run the first Cup practice at Pocono and then fly in Jack Roush’s new premier airplane that’s pretty fast, so we’re gonna use his to fly over to Montreal and qualify, go to the driver’s meeting, run the race and then fly back to Pocono on Saturday night to go race on Sunday. That’s the current plan. The customs folks have been awesome. That’s been the biggest thing to try to work it out with customs so we could fly straight to the airports that are closest to the tracks, and they’ve been awesome. They’ve really accommodated all of us, so it’s been a lot of planning but other folks have done it for me. It’s been a lot of work.”
HOW DO YOU RATE YOURSELF AS A ROAD RACER? “I feel like I’m getting better and better at road racing. Last year we averaged about a fifth-place finish on the Cup road courses and this year I think we were one of the fastest cars at Sonoma and ran out of fuel like Jamie and some of those guys so I’ve been pretty good about it. I don’t know, I think a lot of that has to do with going back to the same courses over and over. I can’t wait to go to Watkins Glen. We ran fourth there last year and I really enjoyed it, so it’s something that I don’t think I’m the best that I can be at it yet, but I really look forward to them now, whereas the first year I didn’t know what to think.”
HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK NASCAR WILL WATCH WHAT HAPPENS OFF THE TRACK AND DO YOU THINK MONTREAL WOULD BE A GOOD VENUE FOR NEXTEL CUP? “Having never been there it’s hard for me to say, but from all of my initial impressions dealing with people – this morning I talked to some folks with customs to file a flight plan and stuff, and all of the people that have been working on this have said that everyone is great to deal with up there. To me, not just racing but life is an adventure and it’s really fun to go do stuff like that. I feel like I’m very fortunate to get to go do this and race this Busch Series race in Montreal. Personally, if it’s logistically possible and feasible economically, I’d love to go race all over the world in these stock cars. I think it’s awesome racing, so hopefully that’s what NASCAR is doing and hopefully I get to be a part of it.”
DAVE BLANEY IS HOSTING AN EVENT AT SHARON SPEEDWAY. ARE YOU GOING TO BE THERE? “I don’t know what I’m doing that week. There are so many dirt tracks around the country and it’s so much fun to go race with guys at the local tracks. I don’t know if I’ll be gonna that one or not. There’s no telling. I go to as many of them as I can, I tell you that, but running the Busch Series and the Cup Series full-time keeps me pretty busy. They’re kind of few and far between, but someday when I retire I’m gonna be at all of them.”
INDIANAPOLIS (July 31, 2007) – The 22nd stop of the 2007 season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway once again had the stars of the Nextel Cup Series experiencing several indigestion-causing incidents, from fiery crashes to pit road penalties. Each weekend, PRN lead anchor Doug Rice picks the Top 10 TUMS Moments from that week’s racing activities. For the 22nd week of the Nextel Cup season, top TUMS honors go to:
10. Just seconds before NASCAR was scheduled to throw a competition yellow Jeff Green crashes out of the race.
9. After qualifying third Ryan Newman’s day ends early when the alltel Dodge crashes into the fourth turn wall on lap 21.
8. Kasey Kahne’s tough season gets a little worse when he and Tony Raines take each other out in a turn two crash.
7. Early race yellow flag fever continues on lap 47 when Jamie McMurray spins and the resulting crash damages the cars driven by Scott Riggs, Bill Elliott, Jimmie Johnson, J.J. Yeley and Ricky Rudd. Upset stomachs were the norm for the first half of the race.
6. After surviving the first crash the Lowe’s Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson is sidelined after a blown tire sends him into the wall and out of the race, no repeat performance for Johnson at the Brickyard
5. Lap 55 the early race carnage continues as Elliott Sadler and Casey Mears crash hard. Kyle Petty and Johnny Sauter are also involved.
4. Two time winner of the Brickyard 400 Dale Jarrett fails to qualify.
3. Persistent rains showers drain most of the drama out to the practice and qualifying days.
2. While running in the top five, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a motor blow and the exodus of fans from Indy starts immediately.
1. Kevin Harvick tries every trick in the book to keep Stewart at bay but eventually Stewart makes the pass and then Harvick loses two more spots to Gordon and Montoya.
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TULSA, Okla. (July 22, 2007) – The Express PBR Classic presented by Creek Nation Casino, part of the Professional Bull Riders’ (PBR) Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler (BFTS), earned the distinction of being the largest grossing event in ticket sales in the 43 year history of the Tulsa Convention Center. The standing room only crowds witnessed Adriano Moraes (Cachoeira, Sao Paulo, Brazil), the only athlete to have achieved a record three PBR World Championships, ride his way to the Tulsa winner’s circle, on July 20-22. Moraes collected $29,356 for his efforts to add to his over $3.4 million in PBR career earnings. The win marked the 34th tour victory of Moraes’ career, which leads all other riders in PBR history.
“It felt great,” said Moraes of the win. “You’re only as good as your last bull ride. If I finished 3rd or 4th it wouldn’t matter, but what mattered is that I rode all four bulls. If you ride four and lose, it’s the bull’s fault. Being consistent is the key to success. I’ve had my ups and downs more often recently and that’s why this was so big.”
Moraes made a promise to his sons that he would cover all his bulls and added, “You promise to do your best. They wouldn’t be upset if I didn’t win, but they are happy because I was able to.”
The Express PBR Classic airs on VERSUS on Saturday, August 4 at 8 and 10 p.m. ET. Be sure to check your local listings for complete broadcast information.
Moraes, 37, entered the Built Ford Championship Round ranked second with 255.25 points, trailing event leader Ross Coleman (Molalla, Ore.) by just three quarters of one point. Moraes faced a serious challenge in the short round where he drew Frontier and Teague Bucking Bulls’ California Dreaming, a bull ridden just three times previously in 18 career tour outs.
A solid score of 88 points made Moraes the first, and ultimately the only rider to cover four bulls during the course of the event. Coleman came up short against Boyd, Floyd and Paradise Farms’ bull Camo to finish in slot three behind Chris Shivers (Jonesville, La.) and Moraes.
Perhaps the highlight of final round action was an electrifying match up between Shivers and Diamond S Bucking Bulls’ Cat Daddy that yielded a season-high score of 93.25 championship points. Shivers’ previous attempt at Cat Daddy came during the 2006 PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals where he came up short.
Moraes’ 34th career BFTS win came at an opportune time to fend off Justin McBride’s (Elk City, Okla.) challenge. Having achieved his 7th 2007 season event win in Dallas, Texas last month, McBride is in pursuit of yet another record, since at 29 wins he is closing in on Moraes’ record number.
Looking down the homestretch with seven regular season tour stops to go, McBride maintains a solid pace and leads the world standings by 1,615.75 series points over 2006 Daisy Rookie of the Year, J.B. Mauney (Mooresville, NC), who won the second round this weekend in Tulsa. McBride finished fifth in the overall event standings.
ABBI Action
As an added feature to the Express PBR Classic, superstar bull power was on display. The American Bucking Bull, Inc., (ABBI) Classic Series brought the best three and four-year-old bucking bulls in the nation to challenge the top 45 men.
ABBI Classic bulls were part of the action throughout the entire weekend in Tulsa, and when the dust settled, it was D&H Cattle Co. and Junk Bull Co.’s Grey Dog who took top honors and $14,810.
Grey Dog topped round one with 92.75 points and followed up with 91.5 to edge Julio and Cindy Moreno’s Troubadour for the win. The Moreno’s took $8,463 home to Marysville, Calif., while C&G Rodeo Cattle’s entry, Spit Fire, rounded out the top three for winnings of $6,347.
INJURY REPORT:
There are no injuries to report.
BEHIND THE CHUTES:
Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s “Ride with the Best” Bonus:
As the winner of the Glendale, Ariz., BFTS event, Robson Palermo (Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil) was eligible for the Enterprise Rent-A-Car “Ride with the Best” bonus money in Tulsa. Palermo was unsuccessful in round one against D&H Cattle Co.’s Hustler and $5,000 was awarded to the stock contractor. Palermo was successful in round two on Tommy Shrader/Anchor bull Company’s Gee Wally to earn the $5,000 bonus available for that round. Palermo was once again successful in the third round on Double R Bucking Bulls’ Medicine Man, claiming another $5,000 bonus for a weekend total of $10,000. As the Express PBR Classic event winner Adriano Moraes (Cachoeira, Sao Paulo, Brazil) will be eligible for the bonus at the Chihuahua Challenge, August 24-26.
Ford Truck Moment of Truth Bonus:
Ross Coleman (Molalla, Ore.) led the event going into the Built Ford Tough Championship Round but did not earn the Express PBR Classic event title; therefore the Ford Truck Moment of Truth Bonus grows to $15,000 for the next BFTS event, the Chihuahua Challenge. The bonus grows by $5,000 each week if it is not claimed. Once claimed, it returns to $5,000.
Ford Super Duty Challenge:
As the Express PBR Classic event winner bull rider Adriano Moraes has qualified for a chance to compete at the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals, against all other 2007 Built Ford Tough Series event winners, for $50,000 toward the purchase of a 2007 Ford Super Duty Truck. The Ford Super Duty Challenge contestant who finishes the highest in the event aggregate during the 2007 PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals will win the Ford Super Duty Challenge.
Bully Dog Short Go Top Qualifier:
Ross Coleman was awarded $2,500 for being the bull rider with the highest cumulative score (i.e. highest in the event average) going into the Built Ford Tough Championship Round and for properly displaying the Top Qualifier Patch.
Salem NationaLease Bull of the Event:
Page & Buck’s VERSUS Blackout dominated the Express PBR Classic with a bull score of 46.75 points, and was awarded $1,250 as a part of Salem NationaLease’s exciting bonus program. The program awards $1,250 to the top bull of the event as determined by the PBR judges’ bull scores.
Cabela’s World’s Foremost Ride:
Chris Shivers (Jonesville, La.) recorded the highest marked ride of the event when he topped bull Diamond S Bucking Bulls’ Cat Daddy for 93.25 points during the Built Ford Tough Championship Round. In doing so, he earned a $1,000 bonus.
The rider who achieves the highest score at each BFTS regular season event during the 2007 BFTS regular season excluding the PBR World Finals receives a bonus of $1,000 for the event. The PBR athlete who achieves the highest marked qualifying ride during the entire 2007 BFTS regular season, excluding the PBR World Finals event will receive $25,000, while second and third place finishers will be awarded $10,000 and $5,000, respectively. The bull rider that achieves the highest marked ride through the course of the entire 2007 PBR BFTS World Finals will earn an additional $10,000.
Shivers overtook the lead for the Cabela’s World’s Foremost Ride bonus of $25,000 with his 93.25 point performance in Tulsa.
AlphaTrade National Champion Standings:
A new bonus program offered by AlphaTrade will present the 2007 Built Ford Tough Series regular season champion, defined by PBR rules to be the rider with the highest BFTS points total at the end of the regular season, with $50,000 and the opportunity to win up to $200,000. The winner will be determined and announced at the Rocky Boots Invitational this year in Columbus, Ohio in October. At present, Justin McBride has a lock on the top. However, North Carolina’s J.B. Mauney is trailing McBride by a mere 1,615.75 BFTS points.
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Express PBR Classic presented by Creek Nation Casino Results:
ROUND ONE: 1) Jared Farley (Kempsey, N.S.W., Australia) 88.75 points on Mendell, Lane and Downard’s Chester, $7,000; 2) L.J Jenkins (Texico, N.M.) 88.5 points on D&H Cattle Co./Harrison’s The Deacon, $5,000; 3) Mike White (De Kalb, Texas) 87.5 points on Spinning Bull, LLC’s Bone Crusher, $3,000; 4) Adriano Moraes (Cachoeira Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil) 87 points on Carter/Neeley’s Little Mr. T, $2,000;
ROUND TWO: 1) J.B. Mauney (Mooresville, N.C.) 90.5 points on #10 Bucking Bulls’ Cat Man Do, $2,730; 2) Beau Hill (West Glacier, Mont.) 90.25 points on Page & Teague Bucking Bulls’ Wintwister, $1,950; 3) Chris Shivers (Jonesville, La.) 89 points on Hebert Bucking Bulls’ Shane, $1,170; 4) Adriano Moraes (Cachoeira Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil) 88 points on Page & Teague Bucking Bulls’ Sunshine, $780;
ROUND THREE: Justin McBride (Elk City, Okla.) 89.5 points on Hebert & Sanford’s What I Say, $2,730; 2) Jason Bennett (Honeygrove, Texas) 87 points on 4C’s/Mosley/Radke’s Little Bo, $1,950; 3) Ross Coleman (Molalla, Ore.) 85.75 points on Mendell/Lane/Downard’s Chester, $1,170; 4) Robson Palermo (Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil) 84.5 points on Double R Bucking Bulls’ Medicine Man, $780;
BUILT FORD TOUGH CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND: 1) Chris Shivers (Jonesville, La.) 93.25 points on Diamond S Bucking Bulls’ Cat Daddy, $2,730; 2) Harve Stewart (Stephenville, Texas) 91 points on Page & Buck’s Savage Shaker, $1,950; 3) Justin McBride (Elk City, Okla.) 90.5 points on Hebert/Fournier Bucking Bulls’ Cajun King, $1,170; 4) Adriano Moraes (Cachoeira Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil) 88 points on Frontier/Teague Bucking Bulls’ California Dreaming, $780;
OVERALL EVENT RESULTS: 1) Adriano Moraes (Cachoeira Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil) 343.25 points, $29,356; 2) Chris Shivers (Jonesville, La.) 264 points, $18,440; 3) Ross Coleman (Molalla, Ore.) 256 points, $13,004; 4) ) Robson Palermo (Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil) 251.5 points, $16,788;
BUILT FORD TOUGH SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1) Justin McBride (Elk City, Okla.) 10,026.75 points; 2) J.B. Mauney (Mooresville, N.C.) 8,411 points, 3) Sean Willingham (Summerville, Ga.) 5,920 points, 4) Guilherme Marchi (Leme, Sao Paulo, Brazil) 5,702.25 points; 5) Robson Palermo (Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil) 5,251.5 points; 6) Brian Canter (Randleman, N.C.) 4,891 points; 7) Paulo Crimber (Olimpia, Sao Paulo, Brazil) 4,625.25 points; 
Adriano Moraes (Cachoeira Paulista, Sao Paulo, Brazil) 4,492.75 points; 9) Wiley Petersen (Fort Hall, Idaho) 4,446.75 points; 10) Matt Bohon (Cole Camp, Mo.) 4,444.5 points.
Joliet, Ill. (July 15, 2007) – The 19th stop of the 2007 season at Chicagoland Speedway once again had the stars of the Nextel Cup Series experiencing several indigestion-causing incidents, from blown tires to blown engines to contact with the wall. Each weekend, PRN lead anchor Doug Rice picks the Top 10 TUMS Moments from that week’s racing activities. For the 19th week of the Nextel Cup season, top TUMS honors go to:
10. Elliott Sadler crashes during the last five minutes of happy hour. Elliott has to start the race in the rear with an unproven race car, which proves to give him indigestion the entire race.
9. The Chevrolet of Paul Menard barely gets up to speed in the race before he is sidelined with engine failure.
8. Chicagoland Speedway once again produces less-than-riveting on track action. Do the folks at TUMS make anything to keep you awake?
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. experiences a myriad of problems from missing pit road to brushing the wall to finally seeing the power steering give away. Jr. managed to finish 19th in the Bud Chevrolet.
6. Martin Truex Jr. starts off strong but fails to make it to the finish as his engine gave up the ghost in the later stages of the race.
5. A tough season for Robby Gordon gets tougher as he crashes out the Jim Beam machine.
4. Dave Blaney and Ward Burton are victims of a late-race crash that takes out two drivers that really need to just finish races.
3. The Dominos Toyota of David Reutimann overcooks an engine, bringing on a serious case of heartburn.
2. Millions of Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans now have to find a new favorite brew after they learn that Budweiser will not follow Jr. to Hendrick Motorsports.
1. Jimmie Johnson experiences a hard crash after the right rear tire gives away; the Lowe’s Chevrolet was running second at the time of the crash.
MATT KENSETH – No. 17 USG Sheetrock/DeWalt Ford Fusion (finished 2nd) – “It was pretty good. I thought we had a – most of the day – a fourth- to eighth-place car, and made some really good adjustments, got the car a lot better where we could run with them. It just seemed like the 48 and the 20 were in front of us and we couldn’t quite run with them guys, but other than that, we seemed to be able to break even with most of them, depending on what track position we had. So, overall it was a good day. It feels good to come home second. I had that one shot at him and I just couldn’t quite finish the pass. If I could’ve finished that pass on the re-start, I would’ve liked to have been in front of him and tried to hold him off – I don’t know if I could’ve or not, but I would’ve liked to like that chance. It was nice to be in clean air.”
THAT RUN THAT YOU HAD WITH TONY – HE MADE A PRETTY AGGRESSIVE MOVE UP GOING INTO TURN ONE THE FIRST TIME, AND YOU CROSSED OVER. “I got a really good re-start that time and cleared a lap car and had a huge run off two on the outside, and it was very, very close, so I hope someday if I go up there I get the same lift off the gas pedal a little bit. I had to get out of it a little bit because he closed the door and I hung a left and still got a good run down the backstretch – almost cleared him getting into three, I had such a huge run. But then we ran side-by-side for a couple of laps, and when you’re on the bottom and you’re racing for position, it’s hard to hang on to. If it’s early in the race, people will give you a little extra room to hang on to your car, but when it’s at the end for position you’re both racing as hard as you can. I stayed under him for about two laps and finally I went off into three, we went up in there side-by-side, and I got so loose I was afraid I was going to wipe us both out so I had to get back behind him. He probably had the superior car anyway, but on that one re-start it was fun to get in there. I wish I could finish the pass and see how much better the car would’ve been in clean air, and at least try to hold him off.”
“I think as group we’re all running better. I think Carl’s been the fastest car out of our shop for a month or two at least – New Hampshire, Michigan and here again. So, that’s good that him and Bob are getting everything going. And I think Jamie and Larry have been able to get going right away, off this year pretty strong. I know he had some trouble today, but they’ve been running much stronger and they’re right on the edge of making it in, and Greg’s getting used to Greg, so I think that overall we’re definitely running stronger. I still think that the Chevy teams – the 48, the 24 and the 20 and them guys – are still pretty tough. I feel like we’re still just a little bit off to be able to beat them every week, that’s how I feel myself, but we’re getting closer.”
ON HIS CONSISTENCY THIS YEAR. “I think our consistency is pretty good, but it’s a different day with the way the point system works. It’s great to finish and say I got a lot of points, but it would’ve been nice to have that win and that extra 10 going into the Chase because we’re pretty comfortable in the top 12, so we really need to be winning races if we could. We work as hard as we can every week to try to win, and you can only go as fast as you can get your race car to go. So, I do feel like our consistency is good. I think it’s always been fairly good. We’ve had a really good group of guys.
“Robbie’s been with me the whole time. There’s a lot of key guys in our shop to make it happen. To be consistent you’ve got to be running at the end of the day and the set-up has got to be right. We’ve got a bunch of great people working on it and put the stuff together where it doesn’t fall apart. And the Roush-Yates engines have been really reliable. So, it takes everything, and I’ve got a really good group making that happen.
YOU NOW HAVE THREE GREAT RUNS IN A ROW HERE. WHEN YOU GET HERE, HOW MUCH IS IT JUST PICKING UP FOR THE YEAR BEFORE AND HOW MUCH IS STARTING ALL OVER? “I think now it’s starting all over for everybody since we’ve got to rum them other things next year. These cars here we had some notes and know what the feel kind of needs to be like, and with them things it’s going to be totally different, it’s kind of like starting over. I really like coming here. You always have a little extra confidence when you’re kind of at you’re home track. I don’t know if I really have a home track, but this certainly is the closest to where I grew up – two or three hours from here – and I always have a lot of fans here and friends and family and bunch of people that we used to know. So, it feels good. It seems like we have more support here than any other track. That always gives you a little extra adrenaline and makes you want to win ever worse. You always race as hard as you can to win, but it hurts a little more when you don’t, when you’re in front of a home crowd.”
“I think the track’s just normal, it’s aged a little bit and is a little different, wearing out a little bit from what it was, which is a good thing for side-by-side racing. Really, all year and even last year, I think it’s the tire most likely, but all of the tracks have been pretty wide – even when we go to tracks with new pavement. These tires are so hard they don’t really marbles and the tracks stays pretty clean. They’re so hard there’s not a lot of grip and you keep moving up the race track looking for grip. I think all the race tracks, overall, have been much wider than I remember them being three or four years ago. Three or four years ago we had a lot more one-groove tracks. Now we don’t have hardly any of them.”
ARE THESE CLOSE FINISHES HERE GETTING FRUSTRATING? “It really frustrates you when you lose and you have the best car and I don’t feel like we had the best cart today. I don’t feel like we gave it away today, I don’t think we had anything taken away from us. I think my team did a great job to get us home second. But I do know from past experiences when you do more than you know you can do, the outcome is not going to be good. I was running as hard as I could all day. I ran as hard as I could under Tony there and I couldn’t clear him. If I would’ve run into the corner two feet farther, I probably would’ve wrecked us both and would’ve lost my car. You can only go as fast your race car can carry you, and I feel we got everything out of it today. We had good pit stops and feel like we got evevrything out of it on the track. Overall, it was a great weekend for us.”
CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion (finished 3rd) – “I just had a lot of fun. I felt like I worked really hard today, I did the best job I could do. We’d work up there and then we’d have a couple of bad pit stops that really set us back. In the end, I don’t know if that really affected our day or not because we took four tires there at the end and that was kind of our strategy anyway. We thought that the four tires would be enough to win the race. There at the end we needed about 20 more laps for the tires to really work. I think Tony had a dominant, I think his car was faster than ours, but we had a little better tires so we were one little increment faster than him there at the end and we needed a lot of time to catch him. I got to race with Matt there at the end; that was pretty cool. I should’ve stayed to the high side, I think I would’ve gotten him. I tried to slide job him and that didn’t work out, but I did have a good time today.”
YOU HAD TO PASS KEVIN HARVICK ON THE RE-START FOR THIRD. WERE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THAT AT ALL? AND, CAN YOU SUPPLY BACKGROUND ON HIS COMMENTS YESTERDAY THAT YOU HAD BEEN TRASH TALKING IN THE BUSCH SERIES? “Alright, I will give you a little story on that. I never trash talked. When Kevin won at New Hampshire, he made a couple of comments, a couple of little jabs, so I was asked about that the other day, and I just said that I would really enjoy beating him this week in the Busch race – and just like it always happens it backfired and he ended up winning. So he was just taking another little jab at me. We’re just joking around. No, I wasn’t worried about passing him. We’ve got a really good relationship, actually some of the best races I ever had were with Kevin. We just kind of had a little fun.”
IT SEEMS LIKE THE REST OF THE ROUSH FENWAY TEAMS ARE CATCHING UP TO WHAT MATT KENSETH HAS BEEN DOING ALL SEASON. “Matt and Robby, those guys just run well everywhere. They’re the model team at Roush Fenway Racing, so I know I get a lot of help from them, our team and our engineering and our pit crew, everyone gets a lot of help from them. But I do feel like, as we go along, we’re getting better and better, but I feel we’re all getting better, too. But, yeah, Matt and those guys, they’re awesome, and sometimes he gives me good advice.”
ROUSH FENWAY WON LAST WEEK AND FINISHED 2-3 THIS WEEK. HENDRICK HAD JUST ONE CAR IN THE TOP FIVE. DO YOU FEEL LIKE THINGS ARE STARTING TO EVEN OUT A LITTLE BIT? WITH SEVEN RACES BEFORE THE CHASE, IS THE RACE A LITTLE MORE WIDE OPEN? “Obviously, the Hendrick cars and the Chevys got off to an unbelievable start. I think we’ve been working really hard and we’ve been gaining a little ground. I feel like we had a car that could win the last five races, or something, which is way better than the beginning of the season – I didn’t feel like that. So, hopefully it continues and by 10 races to go we’ll be even better.”
HOW DO YOU THINK THE TRACK IS MATURING? “I hit the wall both last year and the year before, so I didn’t get to race much of the race. It seemed like the same. The bottom looked kind of wore out, the top would come in and then it would kind of wear out and go back to the bottom.”
ON FORD NOT WINNING YET AT CHICAGO. “Statistically, I think there are more competitive Chevrolet teams, isn’t that correct? We only race here once a year, so it’s hit and miss, and Matt could’ve won the race last year. I felt like we’ve had a fast car every time. I think it’s just one of those things that’s happened. I feel great about our car on the mile-and-a-halves, but just like Matt said, I think sometimes you get to feeling they’re just a tick stronger, but maybe next year it’ll be different. I don’t know.”
Penske Dodges Place in Top-10 at Chicagoland;
Busch finishes sixth, Newman finishes eighth
JOLIET, Ill. (July 15, 2007) – The Penske Racing Dodge Chargers were the class of the Dodge teams as both cars placed in the top 10 at Chicagoland Speedway. Kurt Busch started 43rd after changing an engine and worked his way through the pack to lead two laps before finishing sixth. Ryan Newman finished eighth. It was Busch’s second consecutive top-10 finish and fifth of the season after his third place finish last week at Daytona. The driver of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger trails teammate Ryan Newman by 47 points for 13th place in the standings. He now sits just 77 points outside of the top 12 with seven races remaining to qualify for The Chase.
Reed Sorenson and Juan Pablo Montoya also recorded top 15 finishes. Sorenson drove the No. 41 Target Dodge Charger to a 12th place finish, while Montoya drove the No. 42 Wrigley’s Big Red Dodge Charger to a 15th place result.
Tony Steward recorded is first victory of the season by holding off Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards over the final laps. Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears rounded out the top five.
Gordon continues to lead the series standings by 303 points over Denny Hamlin. Matt Kenseth is third, followed by Jeff Burton and Carl Edwards.
Other Dodge Charger finishes on Saturday night at Daytona were:
- JOHN ANDRETTI (No. 45 Tire Kingdom Dodge Charger) 18th
- BOBBY LABONTE (No. 43 Cheerios/Pillsbury Cinnabon Dodge Charger) 20th
- KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger) 32st
- ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger) 33rd
- DAVID STREMME (No. 40 TUMS Dodge Charger) 34nd
NHRAPOWERade Drag Racing Series
It was an all Dodge Charger final round Sunday at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Morrison, Colo. Jack Beckman in the MTS Charger defeated Ron Capps in the Brut Charger by posting a top speed of more than 312 mph.
Ron Capps recorded his sixth final round appearance this season, and three of those resulted in wins. His career advantage over teammate Beckman now stands at 3-1. This was the first time they have ever faced each other in the final round.
Capps increased his lead in the series standings to 120 points. His closest challenge, Robert Hight, lost in the second round.
John Force at Bristol
Photo by: Jeff Kluss/ SIT
Fourteen-time NHRA POWERade Funny Car champion John Force, driver of the Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang, scored his first victory of 2007 over the weekend, winning the O’Reilly Auto Parts Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway. Force improved to 13th in the standings with five races remaining before the series’ new Countdown to Eight format. Force now has won at least one event in each of the last 21 seasons.
JOHN FORCE – Castrol GTX High Mileage Ford Mustang – YOU DEDICATED YOUR VICTORY TO ERIC AND JOHN MEDLEN. “Yes, Eric and his father. There was a lot going on. A number of kids have won; Robert [Hight] had won and dedicated it to Eric, and Brandon Bernstein and J.R. Todd, some of these guys who have won in Top Fuel, because they were real close buddies of his, like we were – he was like my kid – and I really wanted that win for him this year. I wanted to tell him thank you, and even kind of ask him for forgiveness. There’s a lot stuff going on here, and I’ve been a different person lately, and I think our team might be back on track – might have a shot at this chase.”
John Force wins at Bristol
Photo by: Jeff Kluss/SIT
DOES THE WIN BRING SOME SENSE OF NORMALCY BACK TO WHAT YOU’RE DOING? “No, I’m going to be honest. Normalcy in our race team, yeah. It pulled our team tighter together. You know, it’s real easy to be great when you’re winning. When you’re on top of the game, to be a great boss, it’s easy. But when you’re losing, that’s when it shows to be a good boss. But I’ve been hit on the head this year with so much stuff, overload, from Ashley [Force, his daughter] coming into the game, and then the loss of Eric, and my race car struggling – but the loss of Eric was the major hit. It’s just hard to get you heart back; get back to where you belong. And I rode my guys real hard because my car struggled real bad, and that we will fix the problem. But I forgot to love ’em along the way. If you noticed right before first round, I said, ‘I apologize,’ to my whole team; they had it on TV. I said, ‘I’m sorry that I pushed you too hard. I want you to be perfect and we’re not perfect. And, most of all, I failed as a leader, and I want to get back on track, and I want to ask for your forgiveness,’ and I asked it of Eric Medlen, because he wouldn’t have liked me to have been the way I had been. I mean, I push hard. But there’s a difference in pushing hard and giving ’em love with it. And maybe I just felt that I’d been wronged. We addressed everything. And we picked the car apart – everything we could find. We know that we took Guido [Antonelli] out of the formula. He was our lead guy. [Austin] Coil and Bernie [Fedderly] and the crew chiefs are all in what we call ‘Houston.’ They’re all in the space-shuttle tower. But Guido was the guy who was on-hand. When he went to run Ashley’s car, we brought in the top people that we could hire, but after 12, 13 years, you just don’t pull a guy out of your machine, because it doesn’t operate the same. So, we thought that was a problem. So then we brought in John Medlen to overlook the whole operation. Glen Huszar came in, and jumped in right on top of the clutch, because he had moved to Eric’s team after doing our clutch last year. And we went from running 4.60s at Pomona, winning the championship, to can’t qualify – in my whole career, never missed all these years, I had the record. And we addressed it, we addressed it, we addressed it, we went through everything. We don’t give up. We’re like Ford – we work to build a better car. And in the process, we nailed it down. I kind of joked with Austin: It’s down to two things – it’s down to the chassis or the crew chief. And the crew chief says, ‘There ain’t nothing wrong with us. Is there anything wrong with you?’ And, we changed chassis the week before this race, and we tested a new car at Norwalk and it showed potential and it bounces out and it wins. That doesn’t mean we found the problem. We made some changes in the clutch program that we never changed before. So, maybe we’re onto something, but we did get a win. So, that was a big emotion for us, but mainly so I can say to my sponsors – and I was reading the sponsors every round that I won, because it’s been a long time.”
DESPITE HAVING WON 123 EVENTS IN YOUR CAREER, AFTER GOING THROUGH THE FIRST HALF OF THE SEASON WINLESS, DO YOU EVER START TO THINK THAT MAYBE THE LAST WIN WAS THE LAST WIN? “No, I don’t believe that. [Don] Prudhomme told me when I won my fifth championship, he said, ‘You know, one day it just comes to an end.’ And then when it came to 10, a lot of people said it would come to an end, and it got to 14. It comes to an end when you quit wanting to win or you run out of money or your team breaks up. I’ve held the team together, I am training new recruits, I have the best crew chiefs in the business, and I want to win.”
Photo by Jeff Kluss/ SIT
Post Race Interview with Jamie McMurray 07/07/2007 Daytona
Jamie McMurray – “I’d been in place in the white-flag lap a few times at the restrictor-plate races, and I just never put myself in the right position on the last. And, when I saw all the Hendrick cars, I think Jeff was leading and the 25 was second and the 48 was behind me, I was just pretty much committed to pushing those guys, because I felt like if I pulled out of line that I would only go backwards. But the way everything worked out I got good pushes. I had such a run on the 24 car just to pass him, and got to the lead. My car was really loose on the bottom, so I chose to let Kyle have the inside. I didn’t think that I would be able to run the last four or five laps, just he and I, I don’t know how many laps we ran. I felt like we would be put three-wide, whether someone would fill the middle or try to get on the outside of me. That’s typically what happens, but no one was able to get that run. Carl had a really good run the last lap and could’ve made it three-wide, and fortunately he was an incredible teammate tonight. He ended up giving that push and that push is what helped get me to victory lane. I didn’t even know it was the last lap, to be honest with you guys. I was on the backstretch, and I’m like, ‘How many laps are left?’ And Larry is like, ‘This is it.’ And I was like, ‘Okay. I’ll do my best.’ And then we came off turn four, and everybody knows about the side draft that you get here, and it’s so hard to time that out. I mean, it’s just the luck of the draw. I noticed that Kyle had a run off the corner and I thought, ‘Man, if I could just stall him, I’ll be able to get the run back to the start-finish line.’ And I did it. But I didn’t know that I won. I actually hit the wall after crossing the start-finish line, and I wasn’t sure I won; there was so much screaming on the radio and I couldn’t tell. I didn’t know if we were screaming because we were happy or we were screaming because we didn’t know if we won. So, I was trying to just hold it all in until I was positive that we’d won.”
I DON’T KNOW IF YOU’D AGREE WITH THIS, BUT KURT BUSCH SAID YOU’VE ALWAYS SHOWN SOME ABILITY HERE, BUT YOU LACKED PATIENCE. DO YOU FEEL THAT’S A CORRECT CHARACTERSISTIC? “Well, I’ve never finished well in the Daytona 500, but I’ve always run pretty well in the July race. I don’t know if it’s about patience. It could be. But I’d never put myself in exactly in the position that I needed to be in. A lot of the accidents that you get involved in at restrictor-plate races aren’t of your doing, and certainly I maybe have caused one before, but I would say more than not you’re just an innocent victim. We ran up front for the first part of the race and when I got penalized, I thought, ‘I hope this doesn’t put us in the position to get wrecked now.’ And fortunately, there wasn’t any big accidents and we were able to get out of that. I maybe haven’t always put myself in the best position.”
WHEN ALL THE SCREAMING DIED DOWN, HOW DID YOU LEARN YOU WON FINALLY? AND RIGHT NOW IS THE FEELING ELATION, RELIEF OR ALL OF THE ABOVE? “I’m not sure who told me I won. What happens on the radio is, obviously, when two people talk you can’t hear, and so as I went into turn one I gave it a second for it to be clear, and I’m like, ‘Who won?’ And they were like, ‘You did.’ I don’t know who said it. I just started beating my fist against the wheel and the leg braces, almost into pain, I was just so excited. When I won Charlotte, I had run some truck races and some Busch races, but I don’t think I grew to appreciate how hard it is to win at this level. And after the year we had last year, I worked really hard getting my mind where it needed to be and at the same time getting my body in as good of physical shape as I could. My trainer is actually here this weekend. You know, getting up at 6:30 in the morning and working out every day and that’s the things that initially crossed my mind was it was all worth it, you know? I can tell you this is more special to me and I’ll appreciate this more than Charlotte – mainly because I get to fly home and maybe have a couple of Crown Royal drinks and savor it. At Charlotte it was over and I went home and I went to sleep, and I didn’t pu much thought into it. I probably won’t go to sleep tonight. I’ll probably go home and just think about it.”
YOU SAID IN A RECENT INTERVIEW THAT YOU GO INTO EVERY RACE BELIEVING YOU CAN WIN THAT RACE. HAS IT BEEN DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN THAT MINDSET OVER THE PAST 166 RACES? AND WHAT WAS YOUR MINDSET GOING INTO TODAY’S RACE? “I believed I was going to win. Actually, the way that we unloaded, we didn’t change anything – maybe a little bit of air pressure. We unloaded pretty much how we ended. I know Larry made a few adjustments to the car with the fenders and a few small things, and the car was just really good from the time we unloaded . We didn’t change anything. I told my Busch team the same thing I told Larry. I said, ‘If we finish, we’re going to finish good. We’ve got a great car.’ You just never know when you come to a plate race whether there’s going to be a wreck or what the circumstances are, but I believe if you go into every week believing you’re going to sit on the pole and you’re going to win the race, you need to do something different, because that’s how all these other guys feel.”
WHAT GOES THROUGH YOUR MIND, AS FAR AS WORKING WITH TEAMMATES, AT THE END OF A RACE? “I think it’s different with 25 – Matt pushed me with 40 laps to go for about 15 laps, and he came on my radio during one of the breaks, and he was like, ‘Look, I’ve got to run up high and I’ll help you all I can,’ and so he shoved me the whole time, the caution came out and we put tires on, and he said, ‘I’ll help you again, but if it gets down to five to go and you can win the race, don’t worry about me.’ I think that when it comes to your teammate, where that’s a bigger deal, is if it comes to helping your teammate or helping someone else, then you would obviously choose your teammate. It’s very difficult to continuously work with the guys on your team because there’s so many different circumstances where you get put in and you don’t always get put in that position where you can help, but I think you try to help as much as you can.”
ON THE MOVE TO WIN THE RACE. “The 25 car, I believe, was on older tires. I don’t know that but I noticed he couldn’t hold his car wide open, and I passed him in turns three and four and had a huge run on the top, and the 24 had a 10-car length lead and I had a huge run. I wouldn’t have attempted to pass him unless I knew I could clear him, but I had such a big run there just wasn’t anything he could do about it. You know when you look in your mirror and you see somebody coming whether you can block that or not, and I was coming so fast, he didn’t even attempt to block me, I think. But I got to the lead and there was four or five laps to go or whatever, and I thought, ‘It’s not the time to be in the lead.’ This is kind of the time when you need to be in second or third and get that run, because I don’t know that leading is the best position to be in – especially when there was three or four Hendrick cars all kind of tied up together. But I had Carl and Greg and Matt were all kind of in that, too, so I thought, well, if I do get hung out, one of these guys will come up and save me.”
WHAT WAS YOUR MINDSET AFTER THE PENALTY? “Larry, one of his strong suits is that – you can tell right now, I keep telling him, ‘We won Daytona,’ just trying to get a smile out of him and I can’t really get a reaction – he’s not really high when things are great and he’s not real down when things are bad. He just told me, ‘You’ve got to do a stop-and-go. Don’t slide your tires. Don’t flat spot them.’ He has a really good voice on the radio, and it’s a very calming voice. Maybe it wouldn’t be right for someone else. I experienced this race team when things weren’t going well, so I really appreciate everything that he’s done. It’s early in the race, and when he doesn’t get excited it’s easy for me. If you have a crew chief that’s all fired up, it’s easy for you to get all fired up. So, his demeanor is always pretty calm.”
ON THE EMOTIONS FOLLOWING THE VICTORY. “You work very hard for something, and I don’t know that there’s anyone who has went from the season that I had last year to getting a win at Daytona. And that’s an emotional time. It’s hard to explain to somebody that feeling of not only seeing your team work hard, but also you. Everyone knows the story about me buying a shock dyno because I wanted to learn more about that and it didn’t help my racing career at all. Not even a little bit. It cost me 50 grand, and I still have it and that’s kind of all there is to that story. So, I worked really hard this year to get my mind and my body – I did everything I could. And when you work out every day and you do all that stuff and you’re not winning, and we came so close at Sonoma, and I thought, ‘Man, that was our chance.’ We were there and we had it, and instead we finished 37th, so you almost taste it. And then you get to have it here, and finish in the way that we did, it’s a little bit emotional and it’s because you worked so hard for something and you finally get it. It’s hard to explain to somebody, the feeling that you have.”
We at Sports Image Times would like to congratulate Jamie McMurray and all the folks at Roush-Fenway racing on a great win under the lights at Daytona.
NEW HAMPSHIRE (July 1, 2007) – The 17th stop of the 2007 season at New Hampshire International Speedway once again had the stars of the Nextel Cup Series experiencing several indigestion-causing incidents, from slow pit stops to being disqualified. Each weekend, PRN lead anchor Doug Rice picks the Top 10 TUMS Moments from that week’s racing activities. For the 17th week of the Nextel Cup season, top TUMS honors go to:
10. Brian Vickers qualifies 28th only to then be disqualified for the car being an eighth of inch too low. Vickers has failed to qualify for eight out of the first 17 races this season. Talk about a great reason for heartburn.
9. Dave Blaney wins the first ever pole for Toyota but many of his Toyota teammates fail to make the show including Michael Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, A.J. Allmendinger and Brian Vickers.
8. Scott Riggs for the second week in a row and the third time this season fails to get his Dodge into the race.
7. Ward Burton barely gets up to speed before his car erupts in smoke and Ward exits early to finish 43rd.
6. Clint Bowyer has an oil line break on the Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet and any chance of strong run literally goes up in smoke.
5. Kyle Busch and Johnny Sauter’s cars are too low in post-race inspection, that’s almost never a good thing especially the way NASCAR has been handing out penalties this season like TUMS in a chili parlor.
4. Kurt Busch is involved in a last-lap crash that cost him as least 15 positions; hard to take for a driver and team that is desperately fighting for a place in the chase.
3. Ryan Newman runs over an air hose during a routine pit stop and the resulting penalty cost the alltel Dodge tons of track position but Ryan is able to rally back and finish 10th.
2. Joe Nemechek loses a tire and crashes hard into the outside wall. Track officials load up on TUMS as they wait to see if the catchfence will hold the bouncing tire. It does, as fans and officials sigh with relief.
1. Carl Edwards enters pit road as the race leader but his Ford falls off the jack and he loses a lap in the pits costing him any chance of picking up the win. The New England sellout crowd is also disappointed because the car was sporting the logo and colors of their beloved Red Sox.
Catch PBR action from Glendale on VERSUS!
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GLENDALE, Ariz. (July 1, 2007) – The Cheeseburger Islandstyle Invitational, part of the Professional Bull Riders’ (PBR) Built Ford Tough Series (BFTS) presented by Wrangler wrapped up tonight from the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Ariz. The 21st stop on the elite BFTS tour thrilled southwest bull riding fans with incredible rides and harrowing wrecks. VERSUS will air the conclusion of the Cheeseburger Islandstyle Invitational on Sunday, July 1 at 9:00 p.m. ET.
Robson Palermo (Rio Branco, Acre, BZ) claimed his second event win of the month and his career when he was the only man to cover all three of his bulls in Arizona. In only his second year of PBR competition, Palermo is quickly becoming a dominant figure in the race for the 2007 PBR World Championship.
“This is my second win of the season and a huge boost to my confidence,” Robson Palermo stated at the conclusion of the event. “It really helps going into the end of the season riding strong and with a lot of momentum.” With the event win, Palermo jumped from number 13 in the standings for the race for the PBR World Championship to number seven. He trails current leader, Justin McBride (Elk City, Okla.) by 4,836.75 points with eight events left before the 2007 PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals kicks off in Las Vegas on October 26 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
Palermo finished the first round with an 86.25 point ride aboard Diamond K Bucking Bulls’ Joker’s Wild for sixth place in the round. He dazzled the crowd on Saturday evening claiming the second round with a score of 87 points aboard Herbert Bucking Bulls’ Semi-Automatic. Palermo was sitting in second position going into the Built Ford Tough Championship Round when he dominated Cadillac Man of Double R Bucking Bulls for the event championship with 89.25 points.
“Last year I drew that bull [Cadillac Man] but bucked off and I was a little nervous tonight because of the tendency he [the bull] has to hit a guy in the face,” said Palermo upon his win. “But during the ride it felt good and I was totally focused.”
After claiming victory in round one, up and coming Texas cowboy, Harve Stewart (Stephenville) claimed second in the event with a dazzling ride aboard Cajun King owned by Herbert/Fournier Bucking Bulls for a score of 88.75 points. Stewart’s combined score of 178.75 points was enough for the reserve championship and his best finish of his PBR career.
2005 PBR World Champion and current points leader Justin McBride sat out round two in Glendale after suffering a concussion during Friday night’s competition. McBride’s closest competitor, J.B. Mauney (Mooresville, N.C.), was unable to capitalize on McBride’s injury only scoring 83.25 points aboard Boyd/Floyd/Paradise Farms’ Jeopardy and failing to qualify for the Built Ford Tough Championship Round. Therefore, he continues to trail McBride by a 1,086.25 point margin. McBride has maintained his lead over the 2006 Daisy Rookie of the Year for virtually the entire season, yet Mauney has continually remained within striking distance of the veteran cowboy. Each remaining stop on the BFTS tour is crucial to the BFTS points standings; the lead could change at any time.
The race for the 2007 PBR World Championship resumes July 20-22 from Tulsa, Okla. with the Express PBR Classic presented by Creek Nation Casino. Go to http://www.pbrnow.com/ for more event information.
INJURY REPORT:
Ednei Caminhas (P. Alves, Sao Paulo, BZ)-Pulled muscle in his leg suffered during the first round of the Cheeseburger Islandstyle Invitational. Expected to compete in Tulsa.
Justin McBride (Elk City, Okla.)-Suffered a concussion during the first round of the Cheeseburger Islandstyle Invitational. Expected to compete in Tulsa.
Adriano Moraes (Cachoeira Paulista, Sao Paulo, BZ)-Recurring back injury. Expected to compete in Tulsa.
Valdiron de Olivera (Aparecida de Goiania, GO, BZ)-Suffered a concussion, broken jaw, and through and through laceration in chin requiring stitches. Out of competition.
Robson Palermo (Rio Branco, Acre, BZ)-Suffered a right shoulder separation. Probable to compete in Tulsa.
Clayton Williams (Carthage, Texas)-Laceration to face and bruised left deltoid during the first round of Glendale. Expected to compete in Tulsa.
BEHIND THE CHUTES:
Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s “Ride with the Best” Bonus:
As the winner of the Dickies Invitational in Dallas, Texas, Justin McBride (Elk City, Okla.) was eligible for the Enterprise Rent-A-Car “Ride with the Best” bonus money in Glendale. McBride was unsuccessful in the first round aboard Page & Teague Bucking Bulls’ Wintwister, therefore the bull’s owner walked away with the $5,000 bonus.
After being injured in the first round, McBride drew out of the competition. Having placed second at the Dickies Invitational in Dallas, Texas, Sean Willingham (Summerville, Ga.) was eligible for the bonus in round two. Willingham was unsuccessful against Diamond K Bucking Bulls’ Fish Creek Bandit, thus the stock contractor received the $5,000 bonus. As the Cheeseburger Islandstyle Invitational event winner, Robson Palermo (Rio Branco, Acre, BZ) will be eligible for the bonus at the next BFTS event in Tulsa, Okla. at the PBR Express Classic presented by Creek Nation Casino.
Ford Truck Moment of Truth Bonus:
Tyler Smith (Fruita, Colo.) led the event going into the Built Ford Tough Championship Round but did not earn the Cheeseburger Islandstyle Invitational event title, thus not claiming the $5,000 Ford Truck Moment of Truth Bonus. The bonus will increase to $10,000 for the next event.
Ford Super Duty Challenge:
As the Cheeseburger Islandstyle Invitational event winner bull rider Robson Palermo (Rio Branco, Acre, BZ) has qualified for a chance to compete at the PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals, against all other 2007 Built Ford Tough Series event winners, for $50,000 toward the purchase of a 2007 Ford Super Duty Truck. The Ford Super Duty Challenge contestant who finishes the highest in the event aggregate during the 2007 PBR Built Ford Tough World Finals will win the Ford Super Duty Challenge.
Bully Dog Short Go Top Qualifier:
Tyler Smith (Fruita, Colo.) was awarded $2,500 for being the bull rider with the highest cumulative score (i.e. highest in the event average) going into the Built Ford Tough Championship Round and for properly displaying the Top Qualifier Patch.
Salem NationaLease Bull of the Event:
Cat Daddy owned by Diamond S Bucking Bulls’ dominated the Cheeseburger Islandstyle Invitational with a bull score of 46 points, and was awarded $1,250 as a part of Salem NationaLease’s exciting bonus program. The program awards $1,250 to the top bull of the event as determined by the PBR judges’ bull scores.
Cabela’s World’s Foremost Ride:
Harve Stewart (Stephenville, Texas) recorded the highest marked ride of the event when he topped Mud Flap owned by Gene Owens’ Bucking Bulls’ for 90 points during the first round of the Cheeseburger Islandstyle Invitational. In doing so, he earned a $1,000 bonus.
The rider who achieves the highest score at each BFTS regular season event during the 2007 BFTS regular season excluding the PBR World Finals receives a bonus of $1,000 for the event. The PBR athlete who achieves the highest marked qualifying ride during the entire 2007 BFTS regular season, excluding the PBR World Finals event will receive $25,000, while second and third place finishers will be awarded $10,000 and $5,000, respectively. The bull rider that achieves the highest marked ride through the course of the entire 2007 PBR BFTS World Finals will earn an additional $10,000.
Justin McBride (Elk City, Okla.) is in the lead for the Cabela’s World’s Foremost Ride bonus of $25,000 with his 93-point performance in Auburn Hills, Mich., on Chicken on a Chain, owned by Robinson, Tedesco and Larry the Cable Guy.
AlphaTrade National Champion Standings:
A new bonus program offered by AlphaTrade will present the 2007 Built Ford Tough Series regular season champion, defined by PBR rules to be the rider with the highest BFTS points total at the end of the regular season, with $50,000 and the opportunity to win up to $200,000. The winner will be determined and announced at the Rocky Boots Invitational this year in Columbus, Ohio in October. At present, Justin McBride has a lock on the top spot. However, North Carolina’s J.B. Mauney is trailing McBride by a mere 1,086.25 BFTS points.
CHEESEBURGER ISLANDSTYLE INVITATIONAL ROUND ONE RESULTS: 1) Harve Stewart (Stephenville, Texas) 90 points aboard Gene Owen Bucking Bulls’ Mud Flap, $2,730; 2) Paulo Crimber (Olimpia, Sao Paulo, BZ) 89 points aboard Boyd/Floyd/Paradise Farms’ Missfire, $1,950; 3) Wiley Petersen (Fort Hall, Idaho) 87.75 points aboard Rafter 7R Bucking Bulls’ Blaze, $1,170; 4) Tyler Smith (Fruita, Colo.) 87.5 points aboard Double R Bucking Bulls’ Medicine Man, $780; 5) Guilherme Marchi (Leme, Sao Paulo, BZ) 87 points on Page & Teague Bucking Bulls’ Busta Move, $468.
CHEESEBURGER ISLANDSTYLE INVITATIONAL ROUND TWO RESULTS: 1) Robson Palermo (Rio Branco, Acre, BZ) 87 points on Herbert Bucking Bulls’ Semi-Automatic, $2,730; 2) Tyler Smith (Fruita, Colo.) 86.75 points on Salt River Rodeo’s Runnin’ Round, $1,950; 3) Colby Yates (Fort Worth, Texas) 86.5 points on Page and Teague Bucking Bulls’ Crossfire Hurricane, $1,170; 4/5) J.B. Mauney (Mooresville, N.C.) 83.25 points on Boyd/Floyd/Paradise Farms’ Jeopardy, $624; 4/5) L.J. Jenkins (Texico, N.M.) 83.25 points on Diamond S Bucking Bulls’ Scary Deal, $624.
BUILT FORD TOUGH CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND RESULTS: 1) Robson Palermo (Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil) 89.25 points on Double R Bucking Bulls’ Cadillac Man, $2,730; 2) Harve Stewart (Stephenville, Texas) 88.25 points on Herbert/Fournier Bucking Bulls’ Cajun King, $1,950, 3) Guilherme Marchi (Leme, Sao Paulo, BZ) 88 points on Diamond S Bucking Bulls’ Blizzard, $1,170, 4) Wiley Petersen (Fort Hall, Idaho) 86.5 points on Flying U/Moreno Bucking Bulls’ Werewolf Snuff, $780.
OVERALL EVENT RESULTS: 1) Robson Palermo (Rio Branco, Acre, BZ) 262.5 points, $31,587; 2) Harve Stewart (Stephenville, Texas) 178.25 points, $18,973; 3) Guilherme Marchi (Leme, Sao Paulo, BZ) 175 points, $10,431; 4/5) Tyler Smith (Fruita, Colo.) 174.25 points, $10,127; 4/5) Wiley Petersen (Fort Hall, Idaho) 174.25 points, $7,118.
BUILT FORD TOUGH SERIES POINT STANDINGS: 1) Justin McBride (Elk City, Okla.) 9,426.75 points; 2) J.B. Mauney (Mooresville, N.C.) 8,140.5 points, 3) Sean Willingham (Summerville, Ga.) 5,920 points, 4) Guilherme Marchi (Leme, Sao Paulo, Brazil) 5,568.75 points; 5) Brian Canter (Randleman, N.C.) 4,891 points; 6) Paulo Crimber (Olimpia, Sao Paulo, Brazil) 4,625.25 points, 7) Robson Palermo (Rio Branco, Sao Paulo, BZ) 4,590 points; 8 ) Wiley Petersen (Fort Hall, Idaho) 4.311.75 points, 9) Matt Bohon (Cole Camp, Mo.) 4,300.25 points, 10) Kasey Hayes (Liberal, Kan.) 4,113 points.
