Stock Car Insider - June 5th Issue

Upcoming Events in the World of NASCARNext#26 team has seemingly righted the ship and are
week, the NASCAR Nextel Cup teams head to thesailing on the track to success.The true test for
"Tro-Val", as Darrell Waltrip affectionately refers toJamie McMurray will come next week at the Pocono
Pocono Raceway, for the Pocono 500. Pocono is500. In 6 starts at Pocono, Jamie's average finish is
always a challenging track that offers amazing racing.20th. He will need to finish much higher, and on a
It boasts 3 straightaways, including the longest inconsistent level if he plans on qualifying for the Chase
NASCAR, with 3 sharp, road course like turns.Like thefor the Championship!Who's Not?In the past two
Coca-Cola 600 of 2 weeks ago, the Pocono 500 isweeks, Jeff Gordon has been sliding down the points
particularly stressful on the engines and transmissions.standings and flirting with the dreaded number 11th
Drivers have to down shift going into the sharp, flatslot (Nextel Cup teams have to be in the top ten to
turns. Often times, drivers will use down-shifting toqualify for the Chase for the Championship). There
help brake and lose the enormous speeds they carryare many teams out there who would give their "left
coming off the long straightaways. This creates morelugnut", as Maynard from the movie 'Cars' says, to be
stress on the transmissions thus causing a fewin the 11th slot.However, if you ask Gordon or
failures by the end of the race.Next week at theanyone else on the #24 team, and they will tell you
"Troval", expect Carl Edwards to continue to make11th place flat out sucks. They were there last year,
his move to qualify for the Chase for theand never plan to return.Expect the four-time
Championship. In two starts at Pocono, Carl hasNASCAR Cup champion to start turning up the heat
2-top 5 finishes with one of those top 5's being ain these next few races. Of all the current Nextel
win.Also expect the following drivers to do well nextCup drivers, Gordon is the 3rd most successful at
week:Other drivers to note:Jimmie Johnson - AveragePocono. His average finish in 26 races at Pocono is
Finish 8th10th. For all of the
Jeff Gordon - Average Finish 10thRainbow Warriors out there and for all of NASCAR,
Mark Martin - Average Finish 11thlet's hope Jeff can turn his season around and qualify
Brian Vickers - Average Finish 11thNext Week'sfor the Chase!Last Week's HeadlinesThe Monster
Schedule:Mashes that occur at Dover International Raceway
(all times CST)Nextel Cup: @ Pocono Racewaytwice a year offer some of the best racing on the
6/10/06 - 11:05pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Pocono 500Nextel Cup circuit. The high-banked turns and
Practicestraightaways gives drivers multiple groves to race. A
6/09/06 - 01:45pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Pocono 500"grovey" race is what fans pay money to see. They
Qualifyingwant to see cars side-by-side running different
6/11/06 - 02:10pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Poconogrooves trying to out-muscle each other for the
500Busch Series: @ Nashville Superspeedwaywin.This is exactly what happened yesterday at the
6/10/06 - 10:30pm NASCAR Busch SeriesNeighborhood Excellence 400. I believe I saw some
FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 300 Practiceof the most exciting racing of the entire season in
6/10/06 - 04:05pm NASCAR Busch Seriesthe last 30 laps. Jamie McMurray was out in front
FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 300 Qualifyingrunning the high grove. Multiple times, Kevin Harvick
6/10/06 - 07:05pm NASCAR Busch Serieswould pull up beside McMurray in the low-grove trying
FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 300Craftsman Truckto complete a pass. No matter what he tried, Harvick
Series off until 6/17 @ Michigan Internationaljust could not pass McMurray on the inside.However,
SpeedwayWho's Hot?This week's Who's Hot sectionalong came Matt Kenseth whose car was eating the
could be dedicated to any number of people. Thoseinside grove like Fat Back McSwain eats pork rinds.
at the top did what they had to do to protect theirAt last, 3 laps from the end, Kenseth passed
current standings. This includes Jimmie Johnson whoMcMurray and held on to win the race. This was truly
made an incredible come from behind run to finish insome exciting racing that even left Darrel Waltrip
6th place and preserve his slot as the leader in thequivering at the end.Other performances to
points race.Those fighting to get in or stay in the topnote:Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Kyle Busch all
10 posted strong finishes to help their cause. Greghelped solidify their top 10 standing in the points race
Biffle (finished 8th) & Carl Edwards (finished 15th)by finishing in the top 5.Jimmie Johnson overcame a
each had solid finishes to help them inch closer to theproblematic day to finish 6th. Jimmie's bad day
top 10. While Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton eachstarted early by beginning the race in 42nd position.
finished in the top 5 helping to solidify their top 1033 laps into the race, Mark Martin overtook Jimmie
standings.Despite all the positives that happened atputting him one-lap down. Later in the race, Jimmie on
Dover, no positive was bigger than Jamie McMurray'sseparate occasions spun out twice. However, in true
finish. All season long, McMurray's team has struggledchampionship form, Johnson and his Lowe's #48
to finish anywhere in the top 10, much less cometeam overcame the adversity and finished in the top
close to winning a race. However, with two10.This article is provided to you by Everything
successful weeks in a row (an 8th place finish in theSports, Inc. is owned and operated by Everything
Coca-Cola 600 and a 2nd place finish at Dover), theSports, Inc.