Double File Restart Benefits Martin

The 50 year old racing veteran, Mark Martin scored his 4th victory of the year in the Sprint Cup series. The newly instituted double file restart rule gave Martin a fast start with just 2 laps to go. After leading a race high, 195 laps, Martin closed the deal by taking the checker flag by passing Jimmy Johnson and Kurt Busch during their end of the race contact.

The contact between Johnson and Busch has slowly become an on track rivalry over the course of the season as the two have traded paint on occasion in prior races. Busch and Johnson also banged and tangled at Sonoma, perhaps one reason for Busch's bad feelings. Johnson at one point lost his lead to Hamlin late in the race and fell back into line while going 3 wide. Gordon and Bush surrounded Johnson and the 48 got loose and slid into the Bush's Dodge. It appeared that Bush retaliated against Johnson after the contact. After the Chicago incident, Johnson said,

"The No. 2 (Busch) and I touched and he bodyslammed me after that,'' Johnson said."He's one of those guys that his temper can get away from him, when he first hit me it was like, all right man, this is racing. This isn't necessary. And then he (Busch)backed off."

Kurt Busch responded to the on track battle at Chicago by stating,

"I am starting to lose faith in his ability as a three-time champion," Busch said of Johnson. A couple of runs spoiled by the 48 car, I'm not digging it."

The contact hurt the position of both drivers but certainly helped out Johnson's teammates, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin.
Gordon could only be thankful for the Chicago battle as he said,

"It looked like it was pretty crazy up there, but it worked good for me.

Gordon finished 2nd for Hendrick Motorsports as Martin won yet again this season.

Rain, Rain Don't Go Away

You can imagine the song in the back of Joey Logano's head as the rain began to fall at New Hampshire Motor Speedway but instead of singing for the rain to go away, I'm sure he prayed for it to stay. And it did. As a result, the youngest driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series took the checker flag and became the youngest driver to win in the Sprint Cup series replacing Kyle Bush as the record holder.

Some might argue that Lagano didn't earn the win by racing for it or by having the best car, blah blah blah. Jeff Gordon's crew chief, Steve Letart, would certainly disagree. Logano, who topped off on fuel after a spin on lap 182, was able to stretch his last tank farther than most of the leaders who made their penultimate stop under a caution about 30 laps earlier. Logano also pitted again on lap 194 just before the field went back to green following a caution for the wrecked car of Scott Speed.According to Letarte,

“When you have an off-day you have those opportunities, and they took advantage of that opportunity and that’s a veteran crew chief and a veteran team making the most they can out of the situation,” Letarte said. I was surprised they made it as far as they did, but I wasn’t surprised they tried. It was a lot of cautions in there, it was a great strategy!”

Races are won or lost by drivers and by the call's of their crew chief. In this case, Tony Stewart's long time ex-crew chief and Lagono's first, Greg Zipadelli, made the best call of the race. That strategic call made NASCAR history as the young driver took the trophy at New Hampshire.

Check out NASCAR.com for the official results here.