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Komets Test Movie from Chad Ryan on Vimeo.

Edwards wins Carfax 250

_{Carl Edwards pumps his fist toward the crowd at Michigan International Speedway after winning Saturday’s Carfax 250 Nationwide Series race.
Photo by Chad Ryan.}

Carl Edwards took the lead away from Tony Stewart in the 90th lap of Saturday’s Carfax 250 Nationwide Series race and never looked back. He ran away from Stewart and Brian Vickers to take the checkered flag in the 125-lap race. Danny Efland spun out on the final lap, bringing out the caution and Edwards coasted in, but even if the race finished under green Edwards had it in the bag.

Here are a couple of photos. I will have more up later.

_{Carl Edwards crosses the finish line at Michigan International Speedway under the white and checkered flag to win Saturday’s Carfax 250 Nationwide Series race. It was Edwards’ third victory of the season and his first in Michigan.
Photo by Chad Ryan.}

_{Carl Edwards celebrates in Victory Lane after winning Saturday’s Carfax 250 Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Speedway.
Photo by Chad Ryan.}

_{Tony Stewart drives out of turn No. 4 as the race leader on lap 78 of Saturday’s Carfax 250 Nationwide Series race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich. Stewart lost the lead to Carl Edwards on the 90th lap and ended up in third place.
Photo by Chad Ryan.}

Boy, was I wrong?!

I wrote a story for The News-Sentinel’s preview to Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, and in that story I considered that slower speeds and conserving tires might just make for more exciting racing at Indy. Well, let’s just say that line of reasoning didn’t quite work out the way I envisioned.

The race was bad, and when I say bad I mean I would rather have watched a day-long marathon of “The Girls Next Door.” OK, I won’t go that far, considering I’ve never been able to watch more than about two minutes worth of that garbage without wishing those girls would meet up with the local Derby Girls on the roller rink to get a slap of reality. Now, I’d watch that. I’m sure the 250,000 fans, give or take, who were at Indy might be thinking the same thing right now after Sunday’s Debacle at the Brickyard. Well, maybe not Jimmie Johnson’s fans. He did win after all, but even he said it was a long day.

On a side note, as I ran down Pit Road shooting photos of Rick Hendrick and Johnson’s team celebrating, I had to chuckle when Johnson did a burnout because it only took about 45 seconds until he blew up what was left of one of his tires. There was a pop loud enough to hear through my race headphones, and when the smoke cleared his crew laughed and pointed at the pieces of steel belting that littered the track.

Johnson Wins Brickyard

Not a problem. Really?

NASCAR has now announced their recognition of the tire issue here at Indy that they said yesterday wasn’t a problem. They’ve said there will be a competition yellow on Lap 10 with more likely to come after they inspect the tires to determine the wear. In fact, NASCAR has brought in Pocono tires as a back up to the Goodyears that teams normally use. It could be possible that officials will throw up a caution early on and have everybody switch tires at the same time.

Part of the issue is that because of limited availability of track time to the cars they haven’t been able to put enough rubber down on the track to get the grip they need. Most drivers complained on their radios all day during practice. Dale Earnhardt Jr’s team said that if NASCAR didn’t shut down practice early or bring in more tires they would run out. Mark Martin suggested under the circumstances it was going to be a matter of survival rather than race strategy that determine how he was going to drive.

New look, number for Tony Stewart

I heard about Tony Stewart long before I knew anything about Home Depot. In fact, I’m pretty sure Stewart was the reason I learned of Home Depot’s existence before they opened a store here in Fort Wayne. During his tenure as the Depot’s icon, Stewart’s relationship with the home improvement supplier has been likely as beneficial for them as it has for Stewart, if not more so.

Now with the announcement of Stewart’s move into team ownership comes the inevitable – a new sponsor. He’s trading in Home Depot for Office Depot. Well, that may be an oversimplification of the process, but one question has to be asked. Will the unshaven hero to construction types, home improvement buffs and anyone else wielding a sledgehammer become the clean-shaven face of the office supply industry? And to complete the new image he’ll throw on a splash of Old Spice, his other main sponsor. Could we see a whole new clean-cut Stewart life size stand up taking the place of Carl Edwards every time we walk into the other Depot to buy a ream of copy paper?

To keep himself from tripping up on sponsor names in the first press conference at next year’s Daytona 500, I wonder how many times during December and January Stewart will have to repeat something along the lines of: “The Office Depot/Old Spice Chevy is handling well right now.”

Stewart’s new car will don the number 14 in honor of Stewart’s long-time hero AJ Foyt. Stewart-Haas Racing was given the numbers 4 and 14 with both numbers being of personal significance to Stewart. Number 4 was the number of his first go kart, but he said there was no way he could not drive the No. 14. Stewart’s initial impression was that Foyt was excited at the news. They’ll talk soon, once Stewart gets the cell phone he left behind on vacation back in his hands.

Race Day

It’s Sunday morning in Indianapolis, and that means we’re hours from the start of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Today’s race could be a little different from a fan perspective due to track and weather conditions. For my take on why that could be, check my story here when you’re done reading Pete DiPrimio’s and Reggie Hayes’ stuff at News-Sentinel.com.

Today’s weather forecast calls for sunny skies and a high temperature of 86 degrees. Most weather gurus employed by TV stations (I use that term loosely) predicted lower humidity today, but when I stepped out of my car this morning it felt like I was walking into a steam bath. OK, that’s an exaggeration. It was pleasant for the most part, but let’s hope that humidity settles down.

Fans are streaming in from all directions, some staggering in from the campgrounds, but they’re here. Some fans are already sitting in their seats some five hours before we go green. I hope they brought sun block.

In any case, I’ll update with more information when I can.

Saturday Brickyard photos

Today, I decided to work the garages and the area where the cars come off the track during practice. It was a hot, humid day, and the effects of the weather became apparent as the wore on. Drivers complained about the track conditions and for good reason. Some drivers had tires pulled off their cars that had the belting showing through from all the abrasion of the track. Traction was an issue, and it likely will be again on race day.

Just a few photos from Saturday’s practice sessions.

Qualifying Day at the Brickyard

Qualifications for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard started around 10:00 this morning, and Jimmie Johnson took the pole position for the start of Sunday’s race. Johnson’s qualifying speed of 181.763 mph was just good enough to take the top spot from Mark Martin who will start second. Martin ran a 181.393 and Ryan Newman turned in a two-lap average of 180.970 to move into the inside the second row. Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon round out the top five spots.

“All in all, I was really impressed with the car. Takes a little bit to get used to this track and remember the reference points and where to be,” Johnson said. “We only ran six or seven laps (Friday), and things were working well. I woke up this morning and drove probably 50 laps in my mind mentally to make sure I hit my marks.”

Martin felt he had something special going on right from the start.

“I really knew we had something when we came off Turn 4 for the green flag there,” Martin said. “It really flew through Turn 4 coming in for the green. The car was just spectacular. You know I just really want to commend the U.S. Army Team and everybody at D.E.I. … They’ve got a real special engine in that car this weekend.”

Tony Stewart, who calls this track home, qualified 14th and was less than impressed with his car.

“We were faster than we were yesterday, but not sure we’re where we want to be here yet,” Stewart said. “We were fighting tight yesterday and we got it a little too loose this morning. That’s what’s fun about these cars – they’re always on a knife edge. You never get them exactly where you want them.”