Ultimate Race Day

By Chris McCaffrey

Like a shaken bottle of Napa Valley’s finest sparkling wine, Marcos Ambrose, “All Fizzed Up”, sprayed from dead last  in his #47 Toyota through a field of 42 other drivers to finish 3rd at Infineon.   This would be the second time that the Tasmanian native would defy odds coming from the 43rd spot to finish third at a road course.  Ambrose accomplished the same task as a rookie one year earlier at Watkins Glenn.

When asked in a TNT post race interview about his career best finish in a NASCAR  Sprint Cup race and elevation to the #18th spot in points, Marcos replied, “I don’t care about points, I just want to look good.”

He sure looked good rolling off the hauler in Sonoma.  It appeared Ambrose had struck gold in the rolling hills of Northern California with a third place qualifying run, putting  him on the second row for the start of the Toyota/SaveMart 350, behind Kyle Bush and pole sitter Brian Vickers, until it all went up in smoke when his engine failed in practice on Saturday.   This marked just the beginning of challenges Ambrose would face out on the track.  After rallying to get the car back on the track after a blown engine,  Marcos slammed into the back of Jimmie Johnson coming into turn 11 in the final practice session, leaving damage on the bumpers of both cars.  And surely, the contact would not end there for the former Australian V8 Supercar Series Champion.   It would be an all out door banging day of aggressive, yet finesse filled driving that would take  Michael Watrip Racing’s #47  to the front of the field.  At moments it seemed Ambrose might not survive to finish.  Lap 75 during green flag pit stops, Abrose roared off pit road, tagged Bobby Labonte, sending the #96 into a tailspin…Ambrose drove through.  More dramatically, on lap 89 coming in hot to turn 11, Hamlin (on the inside) forces Ambrose wide and head on into the pit wall.  The #47 nosed in against Denny’s driver side door, barely scraping by and leaving some yellow and red paint behing on the pit road wall.   He may even have offered Hamlin the internationally recognized hand gesture of displesure.  We’ll have to go back to the tapes on that one.

The 115 lap race, which showcased seven yellow flag double file restarts, would conlcude with it’s final restart on lap 112 for a green, white, all out sprint for the checkered flag.  As fierce as Ambrose battled all day, he simply was not fast enough to pass Tony Stewart (2nd place)  and race winner Kasey Kayne who were both dominant and near flawless all day.

For Marcos Ambrose, it would be day of 3rd’s.  For Kasey Kayne, a day of 1st’s.  Kayne scored his first win of the 2009 season, his first career win on a road course, and the King’s first win for the newly formed Richard Petty Motorsports.

Congratulations to Kasey Kayne, Richard Petty and all our Fathers on this special day!!!

Ultimate Race Day is building a network of top NASCAR bloggers. We look forward to introducing you to our contributors over the coming weeks!

Guest Blogger:

By CJ Finch

“You already know what I am going to tell you, you’re not the one, you got the gift Denny Hamlin but it looks like your waiting for something. What? Your next life maybe, who knows, that’s the way these things go..”

It’s what the Oracle tells Neo in the Matrix Trilogy. Based on some of Denny Hamlin’s comments in the media and performance at Dover and Pocono, I’m guessing this is the advice the Oracle would give Denny Hamlin if she could speak with him right now.

Its evident that only Denny Hamlin is holding Denny Hamlin back (just like only Neo held Neo back in The Matrix Trilogy). When Denny chooses to shift his focus and attention to what is going right for him in this 2009 Sprint Cup Series, he is going to win some races and cross the finish line first in dominant fashion.

We all know Denny Hamlin is capable of that, but in this moment, while he is still looking for what else can go wrong for his team, he’s sure enough going to find it. I can guarantee you that – be it a blown tire, a fuel pump, or any of a million things that could go wrong for any driver in a race.

So do you think Denny Hamlin is going to shift his focus and attention this weekend at Michigan International Speedway? Perhaps, its possible, can’t say for sure. I’ve yet to hear anything from him that would lead me to believe so but lightning does strike in the Nascar Sprint Cup Series and drivers can re-create themselves and emerge overnight.

Twitter @cjfinch and @ultimateraceday with your thoughts! Don’t forget to put #nascar in your tweet!

(Photo Credit: The Auto Channel)

By Chris McCaffrey

Last Sunday we headed up to the locale where my passion for NASCAR began. [Apologies for the delay in getting this up - we are ramping the blog in many ways. Stay tuned]. Back in the summer of 1992, I headed to my first NASCAR race at Pocono Raceway with my high school buddies for the Miller Genuine Draft 500. Not your typical activity for a bunch of guys from Monmouth County, New Jersey.

It was a great time to enter into fandom for the sport – during the era of NASCAR greats like Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Harry Gant, Bill Elliot, Rusty Wallace and many more. I loved racing, speed and all things automotive from a very young age. The full experience of the “race day,” including: the tailgate, walking through the pits, socializing with the mass of fans, the air force jet fly over, the smell of fuel and rubber, and most importantly – the intense sound of forty-three 800-hp cup cars roaring down the front stretch at over 200 mph. At that moment I realized, NASCAR was more than a sport – it was a lifestyle.

It was a very memorable day in NASCAR history. From the seats of the Terrace Club, we watched Davey Allison charge through the pack with Darrell Waltrip on his bumper exiting the “Tunnel Turn.” The two cars made contact and Davey’s car careened into the grass, caught air and began a series of 9 flips before landing on the infield guardrail. We stared in awe and concern during the long caution as Davey was pulled from the car and loaded into a MedEvac chopper. A traumatizing moment that will forever remain in my memory and first experience as a NASCAR fan and spectator.

Here I am 17 years later – heading to Pocono again, this time with @StephAgresta and my parents. They too have been infected with the contagious passion for NASCAR. Outfitted with our race hats and t-shirts, Sprint FanViews, and #88 Amp Energy Dale Jr cooler bag filled with cold beer we set out for a full day of racing.

It would be an exiting 500 miles on the 2.5 mile “Tricky Triangle” in Long Pond, PA. This was NASCAR’s first race with the new double file “shoot-out” style restart rule. A restart on lap 118 would provide exciting door to door racing though it wasn’t long before the field would stretch out single file. Long green flag runs kept the new restart format from having an impact on the out come of the race. It would come down to a fuel mileage. A gamble by Tony Stewart staying out and shutting off the motor in the corners of the final laps would earn him his first checkered flag as driver/owner for Stewart Haas Racing. Check out our video of Smoke’s celebratory burnout below. Simply an awesome end to a great race day!