Culture|Garage

“The Strip” at Las Vegas Motor Speedway- Top Fuel was hotly contested in Vegas, as Cory McClenathan snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on Sunday. McClenathan, who bested Antron Brown in the final, hoisted a Wally for the first time in 30 races. “To say the least, it’s about time,” McClenathan said. The race was close, with McClenathan’s 4.65 to Brown’s 4.70 ET, further sweetening the victory for McClenathan. In Pro Stock, Jason Line took home the overall victory in his Pontiac GXP-bodied ride. In the final, it was Line over Greg Stanfield. Line left after Stanfield but managed to get around him to secure the victory, with a margin of 6.78 to Stanfield’s 6.81. In Funny Car, Tim Wilkerson claimed the win, beating out Ashley Force in the final round. Wilkerson, driving in a one-car operation, took his Chevy-bodied car to the winner’s circle in a holeshot victory, soundly trouncing Force’s reaction time, 0.09 to a 0.12. At the big end, Wilkerson ended up with an ET of 4.96 to Force’s 4.99, although Force was faster through the traps. “This was a hard weekend. The track was treacherous from time to time, but NHRA did a good job, and the Goodyear tires worked well today. The U.S. Smokeless guys helped us change motors after I hurt one against Ron Capps,” Wilkerson said.

Phoenix International Raceway, Phoenix, AZ- Jimmie Johnson, whose Chevrolet was running on hopes and dreams on Saturday, is the winner of the Subway Fresh Fit 500. After a race that became less about speed and more about fuel consumption, Johnson and crewchief Chad Knauss worked together in the closing laps to secure the victory. In fact, post-race, Johnson was able to eek out a celebratory burnout until the lines-and tank- went dry. Clint Bowyer, the second-place finisher, utilized a similar strategy to cement his spot in the results. It became apparent towards the end of the race that most cars were going to have to come in for fuel, as busy crewmen tapped away on calculators, and crewchiefs began to lay their hands on the table. For many drivers, the solution was going to be simple-but tricky. “Splash-and-go’s,” as they are referred to in NASCAR parlance, were the order of the day for most crewchiefs, bringing their drivers in for pit stops that were, on average, 4 seconds. Johnson and Bowyer’s crewchiefs elected to gamble, keeping their drivers on track and pressing for position. As the first lead-lap cars came into the pits, Johnson and Bowyer stayed out, and were rewarded with position. Once the final couple of laps rolled around for Johnson, Knauss began to coach his driver down, slowing him in the hopes of saving fuel- which it did. Rolling across the stripe in third was Denny Hamlin’s Toyota, followed by Carl Edwards, who made a very strong comeback from a penalty earlier in the race, in fourth. Congratulations to Johnson, but more importantly, to Knauss, who made the good, and rather, “green” decision, to maximize the mileage from his small-block.

via: nhra, nascar, tonesd.com, draglist.com

ShareThis