Performance was the name of the game in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing this past season. The level of competition in NASCAR’s most elite arena has been growing over the past decade to the point where stock car racing in America is considered the toughest form of auto racing in the world.

A look at statistics for some of the sport’s biggest names explains why NASCAR enjoyed another incredible season in 2008.

Kyle Busch, a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing, dominated the season’s first 26 races, claiming eight victories to go along with 15 top-five and 17 top-10 finishes.

He was the points leader heading into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup this past September. Across all three national series, Busch won a total of 21 races in 2008, including a NASCAR Nationwide Series record-tying 10 victories.

Carl Edwards, a driver for Roush-Fenway Racing, won a series-high nine races in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition, including three victories in the Chase. He finished in the runner-up position in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series. Edwards also posted a NASCAR Sprint Cup series best 27 top-10 and 19 top-five finishes.

Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports etched his name in the record books by claiming his third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, joining Cale Yarborough as the only other driver to accomplish the feat.

Johnson was particularly strong during the Chase, as he had three wins, six top fives, eight top 10s, and an average finish of 5.7 during the season’s final 10 races.

While driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc., Regan Smith was named the Raybestos Rookie of the Year for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

In 34 starts, Smith became the first rookie in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history to finish all 36 races on the schedule throughout the course of the season. He turned in a pair of 14th-place finishes at Martinsville and Bristol and completed 98 percent of the scheduled laps in 2008.

Even though he enjoyed a successful start, Smith is looking for a full-time Sprint Cup ride for the 2009 season. He will run a limited schedule with Furniture Row Racing in 2009. The team is owned by Barney Visser and based in Denver, Colo.

Team owner Rick Hendrick won his eighth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner championship, second only to Petty Enterprises with nine. Johnson claimed his third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in Hendrick’s Chevrolets, and three of Hendrick’s drivers finished in the top 12 in driver points in 2008. Johnson finished first, Jeff Gordon finished seventh and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 12th.

In just his second season of competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, David Ragan, a driver for Roush-Fenway Racing, could be considered the most improved driver of the season.

The Georgia native finished 13th in the point standings, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Ragan posted six top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, including a pair of career-best third-place showings at Michigan in August and Talladega in October. Ragan completed a series-best 99.4 percent of the scheduled laps during the season.

Greg Biffle, another of the Roush-Fenway drivers, returned to the Chase after a two-year absence. Seeded ninth heading into the last 10 races of the year, Biffle got off to a blazing start by winning the first two Chase races at New Hampshire and Dover. He ultimately finished third in the final point standings and established himself as a championship contender in 2009.

With the Bud Shoot-Out special non-points event for pole position winners scheduled for Feb. 7 and the Daytona 500 set for Feb. 15 at Daytona International Speedway, NASCAR is ready to get started on another record-setting season.

Author - Ben White is the motorsports columnist for The Dispatch.

Carl Edwards feels your pain. So does Denny Hamlin.

While their occupation as NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers might suggest otherwise, Edwards and Hamlin are just like every other American who has been staggered by the cost of gasoline. After all, they’re paying the same price at the pump as you when they go to fill up their personal vehicles or recreational toys such as motorcycles, boats, and, yes, even aircraft.

So they feel it, too.

“I really do, believe it or not,” said Hamlin, the 27-year-old driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing. “It’s tough when you have a normal vehicle and it takes $85 to fill it up where it used to take about $26.

“I haven’t been around too long and I haven’t had my license too long, and I don’t remember when it was 25 cents [a gallon], but I do remember when it was about $1.69.”

And that’s to say nothing of the rising cost of aviation fuel, which has hit those drivers who fly from race to race in private jets.

“I feel it through that, for sure,” Hamlin said. “I think it probably costs us somewhere in the neighborhood of $12,000-$13,000 to fill it up and that will take us about three or four hours [of flying time] and that’s it. I know that’s what it was when gas prices were normal.”

Ah, those halcyon days when gas was less than $2 per gallon and it took no more than a $20 bill to fill up the tank. Now, with the price of crude hovering near $137 a barrel, Americans sometimes have to reach for the C-notes instead to fill up.

“Just like anyone, I filled up my truck this morning and the pump stopped at $75 and the tank is half-full,” said Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Ford fielded by Roush Fenway Racing. “So I’m very fortunate right now that I have a very good job and I get paid a lot of money and it’s the greatest thing in the world.

“But I can understand, because just a few years ago, I was driving myself around the country, doing odd jobs, trying to go to college, and I was broke. And fuel prices weren’t $4 a gallon, so I can definitely understand that this is tough on a lot of people.”

But how tough has it been for NASCAR to operate what, on the surface, appears to be a gas-guzzling enterprise? Car owners and drivers don’t necessarily feel it at the pump when they go to work, because Sunoco, which has been the official fuel of NASCAR since 2004, supplies a custom, high-octane fuel for each and every team that lines up in the 43-car grid.
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At no cost.

So, for example, in this Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., NASCAR officials estimate that Sunoco will bring about 2,738 gallons of race fuel to the track to be distributed to race teams. Total cost: Zero.

If NASCAR teams, which will consume an estimated 63.8 gallons of fuel Sunday, getting an average of 5 miles to the gallon, were forced to pay what the average American pays at the pump ($4 per gallon), then the fuel bill would come out to almost $255 per team.

For a 500-mile race, NASCAR car owner Eddie Wood of Wood Brothers Racing calculates that it would require 116 gallons at a cost of roughly $464.

“That’s one tire,” said Wood, trying to put it in relative terms. “In the real world, to us, that’s one tire. Everything’s based on tires. ‘Well, that’s one set of tires, that’s two sets of tires.’ ”

A drop in the barrel
Sunoco produces its custom race fuel for NASCAR’s top three series at a refinery in Marcus Hook, Pa., near Philadelphia. The amount it produces annually for NASCAR represents but a tiny fraction of the fuel Americans consume.

“The amount of fuel used in NASCAR is relatively insignificant, when compared to the amount of consumption by Americans who drive each day,” said Andrew Giangola, NASCAR’s director of business communications. “The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series uses about 135,000 gallons of fuel, racing from Daytona and all the way through to the [season-ending] Ford 400 [in Homestead, Fla.]. And that compares to 360 million gallons used by Americans every day.”

And, Giangola was quick to point out, because the amount is so minute in comparison to the daily domestic demand, “It has no impact on the availability or price of regular passenger fuel.”

While they may not feel it at the track, NASCAR owners and drivers feel the pain at the pump off it. They must absorb the costs of ferrying not only themselves but a convoy of tractor-trailer rigs, each capable of hauling up to 80,000 pounds of equipment from NASCAR’s nerve center near Charlotte, N.C., to all compass points on the 36-race schedule.

According to Chris Sweeny, driver of the hauler for the No. 9 Dodge driven by Kasey Kahne, “Most teams figure that their transportation costs have gone up about 33 percent.”

Sweeny said it costs Gillett Evernham Motorsports roughly $1,500 to fill up the 300-gallon fuel tank on the diesel tractor-trailer.

To make the cross-country trek to Sonoma, Calif., for Sunday’s race at Infineon Raceway, Sweeny said it required two fuel stops each on the outbound and inbound portions.

NASCAR owners and drivers have been forced to deal with such staggering costs as part of the price of doing business in the sport these days.

“You conduct business as usual,” said car owner Len Wood, Eddie’s brother. “You can’t shop it around. The trucks usually leave with only a few hours of pad for a problem. So there’s really not any time to be riding by a truck stop, saying, ‘Oh, man, I can save some money there.’ There’s no time for that. You’ve got to keep on doing business as you were, as far as things like that.

“Transportation is not going to change. You’ve still got to go. You’ve still got to be there.”

Chimed in Eddie Wood, “They’re still going to have a race whether we’re there or not, no matter what you do.”

As for the Wood Brothers’ operating costs, how has their bottom line been affected?

“Well, steel costs are up,” noted Eddie Wood. “The steel sheets we bought four years ago were about $10,000. Last year, it was $16,000 for the very same thing. So that’s a piece of equipment we need.

“Obviously, the steel that we use to build our cars is more expensive than it was a year ago. Then everything you purchased to go on the car is more expensive, because a lot of those products have to be made somewhere and they have to be transported somehow, so their costs are going up.

“Seems like everything gets back to fuel, doesn’t it?”

By Michael Vega
Globe Staff / June 24, 2008

6/22/2008
Sonoma, CA (Sports Network) - Kyle Busch and the Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew made the right moves at the right times and he captured Sunday afternoon’s Toyota Save Mart 350 at the Infineon Raceway. The No.18 M&M’s Toyota crossed the finish line 1.717 seconds ahead of David Gilliland.

The victory was Busch’s fifth of the season and ninth of his Sprint Cup career.

Twice Busch made pit stops just before a caution flag and it set him up with the lead on the final run to the checkered flag. He was never really challenged over the final 40 laps and led a total of 77 laps.

“These guys worked so hard,” said Busch. “This is really special. We came a long ways with this thing. That’s what makes me so proud of this team.”

Kasey Kahne, winner of three of the last five races and Friday’s pole, brought the field to the green flag for 110 laps of road-course fun. He led them through the first laps, but it was Robby Gordon that was showing the most speed. The No.7 Dodge started eighth but by the end of the third lap he was already past road-course ace Jeff Gordon and into fourth place.

Also of note was that Kahne was reporting to his pit crew that he had already lost first gear. Jimmie Johnson caught Kahne on lap five and passed him in Turn 11 to grab the lead and five bonus points.

Robby Gordon, who only knows one way to drive - at 110-percent, took third place from a fading Kahne on lap eight.

Meanwhile, Johnson was out for a “Sunday drive” with the clean air built his lead to almost four seconds after a dozen laps. Two drivers who looked strong early were Carl Edwards and rookie Marcos Ambrose. Also of note, defending champion Juan Pablo Montoya cracked the top-10 on lap 13.

Edwards was on the move and got around both Robby Gordon and Busch for second place on lap 21. He was more than four second behind the two-time series champion. But Edwards was faster than Johnson and began to eat into his lead. Johnson’s lead was under one second at lap 28 as Edwards closed on the No.48 Chevrolet. A caution flag on lap 30, cause by David Ragan, slowed Edwards’ assault on Johnson.

Differing pit stop strategies, left Greg Biffle, Montoya and Busch at the front of the line. Johnson came out 11th, but the first of those who had pitted.

Biffle led for just three corners before spinning and when the smoke had cleared, Busch had slid underneath Montoya to grab the lead. Busch quickly built a two-second lead on Montoya.

In the middle of the field, Edwards got around Johnson and began to slowly move his way past those who had not stopped at the last caution flag.

Busch, Montoya and McMurray stayed in line at the front, although Busch built the lead to more than three seconds by lap 50.

In this “strategy race,” the question for every crew chief is when they would make their final stops. Last year, Montoya made his final stop on lap 68 and after everyone had cycled through he was left with the lead and the only question was could he stretch his fuel to the checkered flag. He did and won the race.

The drivers were mostly staying in line waiting for the final pit stop and run to the checkered flag. Exceptions were Edwards who cracked the top-five on lap 62 and Ambrose was also climbing - he was up to ninth. By lap 65 Edwards was up to fourth and Ambrose to seventh.

Gilliland pitted on lap 66, the first of the top-10 drivers to pit.

Could he go 44 laps on a tank of fuel?

Jeff Burton came in on the next lap as did Harvick and Clint Bowyer. Ambrose and Dale Earnhardt Jr. came in on lap 68. Busch came in on lap 69 as did Montoya, McMurray and Tony Stewart.

Then on the next lap Robby Gordon and Max Papis made contact and it brought out the caution flag.

With the caution flag in the middle of pit stops, the advantage went to those who had stopped before the yellow…the opposite of what you want at an oval track.

The remainder of the cars stopped when pit lane was opened on lap 71.

The race would restart with Busch, Montoya and McMurray again leading the way. Behind them were Ambrose, Gilliland, Stewart, Harvick and Ron Fellows.

Montoya, McMurray and Ambrose got together in Turn 11 when Ambrose tried to make a pass on the No.26 Ford. The end result was Montoya getting knocked back to 15th place and Ambrose taking over second.

McMurray fought back and passed Ambrose as the crossed the start/finish line to start lap 77. Ambrose began to fade as Gilliland, Stewart, Harvick and Elliott Sadler all got around the rookie. Then Ambrose’s transmission blew and his great day was over.

Busch again built a comfortable lead, almost three seconds at lap 90, 20 to go. Without a caution flag it appeared that it was Busch’s race to lose - assuming he had enough fuel to go 41 laps on his final fill up. His margin back to McMuray at lap 100 was more than four seconds.

But then David Reutimann slammed into the tire barrier with nine laps to go and it brought out a full-course caution flag. The yellow erased Busch’s big lead and gave those chasing him one last chance to catch him.

It took a while to dig Reutimann’s Toyota out of the tire barrier and the green flag dropped with six laps to go. Busch got a great start, but McMurray slipped off the track in the first turn and Stewart stole second from him.

A couple of turns later Harvick went in too hot, hit McMurray who in turn hit Stewart sending all three cars spinning. The accident also collected Ron Fellows who was set for a top-six finish.

The race would restart on lap 107 with Busch leading Gilliland and Jeff Gordon. But they couldn’t get in even one green-flag lap completed before the caution flag came out again.

The red flag came out to clean up the multi-car accident and officials declared the race would go to lap 112 on a green-white-checker finish. Busch got off to another great restart and was never challenged the rest of the way.

Jeff Gordon, Bowyer and Casey Mears completed the top-five. Montoya finished sixth.

Busch’s win gives him a 103-point lead over Burton heading to the next race - set for Sunday, June 29th at the New Hampshire International Speedway.

by: The Sporting News

June 21, 2008

Remember all that hype? Remember those who wondered if it was just too much?

Could an 18-year old with no experience at the level he was entering handle the eyes of a NASCAR world intently focused on him without falling on his face?

Well, it’s starting to look like all that hype, all that buildup, maybe it wasn’t even enough.

A week ago 18-year old Middletown native Joey Logano, in his third Nationwide Series start, became the youngest driver in NASCAR history to win in the division, or in any of NASCAR’s three national divisions.

So how does one follow up such a stunning feat? How about battling to the end with one of the Sprint Cup Series’ biggest stars?

Logano, the 2007 Camping World East Series champion who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, followed up his victory last week at Kentucky Speedway by finishing second to Roush Fenway Driver Carl Edwards in the Camping World RV Rental 250 at the 1-mile Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisc.

It was the fourth career Nationwide Series start for Logano, who finished sixth in his series debut at Dover International Speedway on May 31. After winning the pole in his second event, at Nashville Superspeedway on June 7, Logano crashed and finished 31st.

Logano was the only non-Sprint Cup Series regular in the top-5. Clint Bowyer was third, David Ragan fourth and David Reutimann fifth. Logano, who led 35 laps, finished 1.58 seconds behind Edwards, the 2007 Nationwide Series champion.

“We started off and my car wasn’t where it needed to be,” Logano said. “We were way off. We kept going backwards. We just kept working on it and never gave up. We finally got it where we needed to and we were running down the leaders pretty fast there on the longer haul. And then a caution came out and we got tires, and I was just not good on new tires. It took me five to 10 laps for it to come in. I just lost positions on restarts, and you can’t afford to do that. It’s hard to come back from that. We were just too tight at the end to catch Carl [Edwards]. I don’t think we adjusted to the race track enough. I think the track got a lot tighter. Overall, from where we started today to where we ended was a big plus.”

The hot streak for Logano will come to an uncontrollable stop though. Logano will hang up the helmet for the next three Nationwide Series events. Tony Stewart will be in the car for next week’s race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Logano isn’t approved to run Daytona International Speedway on July 4 and Stewart will again be in the car at Chicagoland Speedway on July 11.

By Shawn Courchesne
Courant.com