9.24.2011

NASCAR: Johnson, Stremme lead Sprint Cup practice sessions



Jimmie Johnson and David Stremme led the two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice sessions on a gray, overcast and occasionally damp Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Johnson led the first 50-minute session at 130.198 miles per hour. Jeff Burton was second at 130.180 mph, with Kevin Harvick at 130.149 mph, Greg Biffle at 130.109 mph and Jeff Gordon at 130.006 mph rounding out the top five. Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Regan Smith, pole-winner Ryan Newman and A. J. Allmendinger completed the top 10.

Five Chase for the Championship drivers were among the 10 fastest: Johnson, Harvick, Gordon, Kyle Busch and Newman. The others were 11th and 13th (Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr.), 17th and 18th (teammates Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski) and 22nd and 26th (Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards). Former champion Matt Kenseth was 28th-fastest.

Stremme, who ran just a handful of laps and topped out at 130.644 mph, led the second session. Gordon was second at 130.416 mph, with Johnson at 130.336 mph, Burton at 130.309 mph and Kyle Busch at 130.269 mph. Newman, Kasey Kahne, Biffle, Harvick and Paul Menard rounded out the top 10.

Among Chase drivers, Gordon, Johnson, Kyle Busch, Newman and Harvick were among the top-10. Earnhardt Jr. was 11th, Hamlin 15th, Edwards and Keselowski 19th and 20th, Kurt Busch 22nd, Stewart 28th and Kenseth 30th.

Ron Silk wins Modified race at New Hampshire

New points leader Ron Silk beat Todd Szegedy, Justin Bonsignore, tour veteran Ted Christopher and Eric Beers in Saturday afternoon’s rain-interrupted New Hampshire Modified Tour 100. It was Silk’s second career win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, his third Modified Tour win this year and the seventh of his career. He led 66 of the 100 laps, and went from 12 points behind to eight ahead of Szegedy with races remaining in Stafford, Ct. and Thompson, Ct. Cup star Ryan Newman blew up early and finished 28th among the 29 starters.

Clint Bowyer headed to Michael Waltrip Racing

Michael Waltrip expects to confirm his team's new NASCAR Sprint Cup Series relationship with Clint Bowyer within the next week to 10 days.

Michael Waltrip Racing fields full-schedule Toyota Camrys for David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr. and has an in-house “technical alliance” with the Toyota-based JTG Daugherty team with driver Bobby Labonte.

That will change next year, when JTG Daugherty and Labonte leave the Waltrip shop, headed perhaps to the shop it once shared with Wood Brothers Racing in Harrisburg, N.C. That will free up space for Bowyer's new team, which will use much of the equipment and personnel JTG Daugherty and Labonte have used this year.

There's some speculation that JTG Daugherty and Labonte will become the long-sought third team at Ford-based Richard Petty Motorsports. There's also talk in the garage that Ford-based Wood Brothers Racing, already closely affiliated with Roush Fenway Racing, might relocate from Harrisburg, N.C., to the Roush Fenway compound at Concord, N.C.

Moffitt wins K&N race

Third-starting Brett Moffitt, in a Toyota from Michael Waltrip Racing, led the final 63 laps of Friday night's K&N East Pro Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Scheduled for 125 laps, the race was stopped after 78 because of darkness and rain. Sergio Pena, pole-winner Darrell Wallace Jr. (he led laps 1-15), Matt DiBenedetto and Eddie McDonald completed the top five.

Eddie Sharp Racing expanding

The Camping World Truck Series got some good news Saturday when team owner Eddie Sharp Racing said he'll add two teams to his Truck Series stable next year. Sharp has bought a controlling interest in two of the three Kevin Harvick Inc. teams that Harvick will shut down after this season.

“We're ready to take this opportunity head-on to utilize what Kevin and DeLana (Harvick) have built,” Sharp said at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “It's a marriage made in heaven because we were ready to move forward. This worked out perfectly.”

Harvick agreed: “With Eddie acquiring the two teams, it'll give everybody the opportunity to move forward. He'll come to our shop and interview people and make sure they fit into his company and want to be part of it. It's a great way for him to build his company.”

Eddie Sharp Racing currently fields a full-schedule Chevrolet Silverado for Justin Lofton.

Sharp said his two new drivers will be announced next month. Four-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. and former Formula One driver Nelson Piquet Jr. have been Kevin Harvick Inc.'s full-time truck racers this year. Harvick, Elliott Sadler, Clint Bowyer and David Mayhew have shared the third truck, which leads the owner-point standings.

Red Bull files layoff notice

Red Bull Racing has notified the state of North Carolina that it plans to lay off 152 employees at its Mooresville, N.C., location no later by Dec.17.

The Toyota-based NASCAR Sprint Cup Series organization filed a legal notice this week as required by the state's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. In the paperwork, Red Bull said the closing of the business will be permanent.

Since Red Bull Racing is for sale and may remain active with new owners, the notification doesn't necessarily mean it will close. But the paperwork covers Red Bull Racing if it doesn't find a buyer or finds one who lays off at least 50 employees. State law requires the 60-day notice to its labor department and to workers who might be affected by the planned closure.

Austria-based Red Bull announced in mid-summer it planned to end the sponsorship of its two Toyota-based stock car teams. Its drivers have dramatically different prospects for 2012. Kasey Kahne already had signed to replace Mark Martin in the No. 5 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports, but Brian Vickers, who missed most of last year with health issues, has nothing in place yet for 2012.

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