Paul Menard, driver of the No. 98 Menards Ford Fusion, was running eighth in Saturday’s LifeLock.com 400 before late-race contact with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. resulted in a flat tire and an early exit.
Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion, was second-fastest in Saturday’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice session at Chicagoland Speedway. Earlier in the day, Edwards won the pole for tonight’s Dollar General 300. He spoke about both while walking to the Nationwide Series driver’s meeting.
Bill Elliott, driver of the No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Fusion, qualified eighth to lead all Ford drivers for Saturday’s LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards (fourth) and Matt Kenseth (eighth) both turned in top-10 finishes, and a third teammate, Jamie McMurray (11th), just missed in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway late Saturday night. Both Kenseth and McMurray had previously won at “The World Center of Racing,” while Edwards was looking for his first career win there. Edwards (fifth), Greg Biffle (ninth) and Kenseth (10th) all remain in the top 10 in the standings with just eight races remaining before the cutoff to the Chase.
A late afternoon shower cancelled NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying on Friday, so the field will be set according to points. Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M / Scotch-Brite Ford Fusion, is ninth in the standings, but he will have to start tomorrow night’s race from the back because he will be in a back-up car that didn’t complete a lap during Thursday’s practice sessions. Biffle’s primary car was wrecked very late in the second practice session.
Glen Wood – one of the original Wood Brothers – was one of 25 inaugural nominees announced last night for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, which will induct its first class of five in 2010. Wood’s racing career began in the 1950s, and he won four races in NASCAR’s early days before retiring as a driver to become a fulltime owner in the 1960s. He was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers a decade ago. The Wood Brothers have won 96 races, and are considered pioneers of the modern-day pit stop. The Wood Brothers’ association with Ford Motor Company dates back to the 1950s.
Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion, won the season-opening Daytona 500 and then followed it up with a victory the next week in Fontana (Calif.). Kenseth, who has three top-five finishes in his last six starts at Daytona International Speedway, heads into this weekend’s Coke Zero 400 in 10th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings. Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Subway Ford Fusion, is in fifth place in the standings heading into Saturday night’srace. Edwards finished second in last July’s race at the famed track. And Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M / Scotch-Brite Ford Fusion, is in ninth place in the standings. He won the July race at Daytona in 2003.
The new Fiesta Rallycross cars have already created plenty of buzz in the enthusiast community with word of their North American motorsport debut in July’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado.
When the rains finally arrived at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, Bobby Labonte had already led nine laps, and Greg had spent much of the afternoon near the top 10. But, when the race was stopped 28 laps from its scheduled 301-lap finish, Biffle had fallen to 18th and Labonte to 21st.
Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 96 Ask.com Ford Fusion, was the fastest among Ford drivers in Saturday’s first practice and second-fastest among Ford drivers during Happy Hour at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Labonte, who has 10 career top-10 finishes at the one-mile track, will start 28th in tomorrow’s race.
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